MEN   OF   MARK  IN   CONNECTICUT 


Men  of  Mark  in  Connecticut 


IDEALS  OF  AMERICAN  LIFE  TOLD  IN  BIOG- 
RAPHIES AND  AUTOBIOGRAPHIES  OF 
EMINENT  LIVING  AMERICANS 


EDITED  BY 

COLONEL  N.  G.  OSBORN 

EDITOR   "NEW  HAVEN  JOURNAL  AND  COUKIKB' 


VOLUME   III 


WILLIAM  R.  GOODSPEED 

HARTFORD,  CONNECTICUT 
1907 


Copyright  1904  by  B.  P.  JOHHBON 


MEN  OF  MARK  IN  CONNECTICUT 

COL.   N.   G.   OSBOBN,   Editor-in-Chief 


ADVISORY  BOARD 


HON.  WILLIAM  S.  CASE     .... 

JUDGE  OF  SUPEBIOB  COURT. 


HABTFORD 


HON.  GEORGE  S.  GODARD  . 


STATE   LIBRARIAN 


HABTFORD 


HON.  FREDERICK  J.  KINGSBURY,  LL.D.,  .  .  WATERBUBY 

MEMBER    CORPORATION    YALE    UNIVERSITY 


CAPTAIN  EDWARD  W.  MARSH      . 

TREASURER    PEOPLE'S    SAVINGS    BANK 


BRIDGEPORT 


COL.  N.  G.  OSBORN NEW  HAVEN 

EDITOR    NEW    HAVEN    REGISTER 


HON.  HENRY  ROBERTS 


EX-GOVERNOR. 


HABTFOBD 


HON.  JONATHAN  TRUMBULL 

LIBRARIAN    PUBLIC    LIBRARY 


NORWICH 


2C12301 


JAMES  ARTHUR  ATWOOD 

ATWOOD,  JAMES  AKTHUE,  manager  of  two  of  Connecticut's 
foremost  manufacturing  industries,  bank  president  and  lead- 
ing citizen  of  Wauregan,  Windham  County,  Connecticut, 
was  born  in  that  town,  May  18th,  1864.  He  is  a  descendant  of 
Francis  and  Mary  Williams  Atwood,  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
the  latter  a  great-granddaughter  of  Roger  Williams.  Francis  At- 
wood's  son,  John  Atwood,  had  a  son  John  who  was  a  sergeant  in 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Sergeant  John  Atwood  married  Roby  Kim- 
ball  and  lived  in  Scituate,  Rhode  Island,  where  their  son  Kimball 
Atwood  was  born.  Kimball  Atwood's  son  John  moved  to  Williams- 
ville,  Connecticut,  and  became  part  owner  of  The  Williamsville  Manu- 
facturing Company,  which  present  representatives  of  the  family  own 
and  manage.  James  S.  Atwood,  son  of  John  and  father  of  James 
Arthur  Atwood,  was  a  successful  manufacturer  of  Wauregan,  a  loyal 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  a  most  upright,  useful, 
and  high-minded  citizen.  James  S.  Atwood  built  the  Wauregan  Mills 
at  Wauregan  and  the  Ponemah  Mills  at  Taftville,  Connecticut,  and 
had  charge  of  both  companies  until  his  death.  He  was  also  president 
of  The  Williamsville  Manufacturing  Company.  He  was  representative 
and  presidential  elector,  and  through  example  and  generosity  did 
much  for  his  town,  especially  in  beautifying  it  and  building  up  its 
industries.  Mr.  Atwood's  mother  was  Julia  A.  M.  Haskell,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  William  Haskell  who  came  from  Salem,  England,  to 
Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  in  1642,  and  was  prominent  in  the  military, 
religious,  and  political  affairs  of  his  day.  He  is  also  descended  on  his 
lather's  side  from  Gov.  Caleb  Carr,  Colonial  Governor  of  Rhode 
Island,  and  on  his  mother's  side  from  Isaac  Allerton  of  the  Mayflower. 
James  Arthur  Atwood  attended  the  public  schools  of  Wauregan 
and  Phillips  Academy  in  Andover,  Massachusetts,  where  he  graduated 
at  the  head  of  his  class.  He  then  entered  the  Sheffield  Scientific 
School  of  Yale  University,  where  he  took  the  course  in  mechanical 
engineering  and  graduated  with  the  degree  of  Ph.B.  in  1885.  On 

9 


10  JAMES  ARTHUR  AT  WOOD. 

leaving  college  he  and  his  twin  brother,  John  Walter,  immediately 
became  identified  with  the  family  manufacturing  interests  in  Waure- 
gan,  established  by  their  father  in  1853  and  already  grown  to  large 
proportions  and  embracing  an  extensive  business. 

In  1889  Mr.  Atwood  was  appointed  agent  of  the  Wauregan  Com- 
pany and  he  still  holds  the  position.  In  1897  he  was  appointed  agent 
of  the  Quinebaug  Company  of  Danielson,  Connecticut,  and  he  con- 
tinues to  hold  the  personal  supervision  of  both  these  concerns  and 
devotes  his  time  to  their  management.  The  two  corporations  employ 
over  thirteen  hundred  hands  and  comprise  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
flourishing  cotton  goods  industries  in  New  England.  Mr.  Atwood 
is  also  interested  in  the  Samoset  Company  of  Valley  Falls,  Khode 
Island,  of  which  he  is  a  director,  and  he  is  a  former  president  of  The 
Williamsville  Manufacturing  Company  of  Williamsville,  Connecticut. 
He  was  a  director  of  the  Ponemah  Mills  of  Taftville  and  of  the 
Sterling  Dyeing  and  Finishing  Company  of  Sterling,  Connecticut, 
until  he  sold  out  his  interest  in  those  corporations.  He  is  president 
of  the  Windham  County  National  Bank  of  Danielson,  Connecticut, 
and  a  trustee  of  the  Brooklyn  Savings  Bank  of  Brooklyn,  Connecticut. 

With  the  exception  of  the  college  fraternity  of  Delta  Psi,  Mr. 
Atwood  has  no  fraternal  ties,  having  devoted  all  his  time  to  business 
and  home  interests.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  two  children. 
Mrs.  Atwood  is  Helen  Louise,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Helen  Wolcott 
Mathewson,  whom  he  married  December  llth,  1888.  The  children 
are  J.  Arthur  Atwood,  Jr.,  born  May  5th,  1890,  and  Dorothy,  born 
March  27th,  1893. 


JOHN  WALTER  ATWOOD 

ATWOOD,  GENERAL  JOHN  WALTER,  of  Wauregan,  Wind- 
ham  County,  Connecticut,  one  of  the  most  successful  manu- 
facturers in  New  England,  is  of  a  family  of  manufacturers, 
descendants  of  Francis  Atwood  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  of  Mary 
Williams,  his  wife,  who  was  great-granddaughter  of  Roger  Williams. 
Francis  Atwood's  son,  John  Atwood,  had  a  son,  John  Atwood,  who 
was  sergeant  in  the  Revolutionary  War  and  who  settled  in  Scituate, 
R.  I.  Sergeant  John  Atwood  married  Roby  Kimball  and  they  re- 
sided the  whole  of  their  lives'  in  Scituate,  as  did  also  their  son,  Kim- 
ball  Atwood. 

John  Atwood,  son  of  Kimball  Atwood,  came  to  Killingly, 
Windham  County,  Connecticut,  where  he  was  employed  in  the  old 
Williamsville  mill,  built  in  1827  and  owned  by  Caleb  Williams.  In 
1849  he  became  part  owner  and  so  continued  till  his  death.  His 
sons,  James  S.  and  William  A.,  inherited  their  father's  interest  in 
the  mill  and  owned  a  half  interest  in  the  corporation  at  their  death. 
His  grandsons,  Henry  C.  and  William  E.  (of  Williamsville)  and  J. 
Arthur  and  John  Walter  (both  of  Wauregan)  became  sole  owners  of 
the  Williamsville  Manufacturing  Company  in  1890,  but  in  1903,  J. 
Arthur  and  John  Walter  Atwood  (both  of  Wauregan)  sold  their  half 
interest  to  their  cousins,  Henry  C.  and  William  E.,  who  then  became 
sole  owners  of  the  corporation. 

James  S.  Atwood,  son  of  John  and  father  of  J.  Arthur  and  John 
Walter,  who  are  twins,  began  his  career  as  a  manufacturer  in  Waure- 
gan in  1853,  and  met  with  great  success,  developing  the  business  along 
lines  purely  experimental  at  the  outset.  The  goods  from  Wauregan 
Mills  and  from  the  Ponemah  Mills  at  Taftville  (which  he  built  and 
had  charge  of  until  his  death),  were  sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 
The  village  of  Wauregan,  under  the  watchful  care  of  Mr.  Atwood, 
became  one  of  the  most  beautiful  in  New  England.  He  was  a  man 
whom  everybody  loved.  He  served  in  the  Legislatures  of  1862  and 
1868,  and  was  an  elector  on  the  Republican  ticket  in  1884. 

It 


12  JOHN   WALTER  AT  WOOD. 

His  wife,  Julia  A.  M.  Haskell,  was  the  daughter  of  Willard 
Haskell,  direct  descendant  of  William  Haskell,  who,  coming  from 
Salem,  England,  located  in  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  in  1642,  was 
deacon  of  the  church,  captain  in  the  militia,  selectman  and  represen- 
tative in  the  General  Assembly  six  times. 

General  John  Walter  Atwood,  on  his  father's  side,  is  also  de- 
scended from  Gov.  Caleb  Carr,  Colonial  Governor  of  Ehode  Island, 
and  on  his  mother's  side,  from  Isaac  Allerton  of  the  Mayflower. 

John  Walter  Atwood  was  born  in  Wauregan,  on  May  18,  1864. 
After  attending  the  public  schools  he  went  to  Phillips  Academy  at 
Andover,  Massachusetts,  and  thence  to  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School, 
Yale.  On  leaving  college,  he  at  once  associated  himself  with  the  man- 
ufacturing interests  of  the  family.  In  1888  he  was  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  Wauregan  Mills,  which  position  he  still  occupies, 
displaying  the  same  skill,  judgment,  and  enterprise  that  characterized 
his  father  and  his  grandfather.  Also  he  has  taken  like  pride  in  the 
village  of  Wauregan  and  in  every  way  the  good  works  of  his  ancestors 
are  carried  forward.  Though  always  deeply  interested  in  public 
affairs  and  prominent  in  the  councils  of  the  Eepublican  party,  he  re- 
peatedly declined  office  until  1899,  when  he  accepted  election  as  rep- 
resentative in  the  General  Assembly  and  served  on  the  committee  on 
Appropriations.  He  was  again  elected  as  representative  to  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  in  1903  and  State  Senator  in  1905.  He  was  appointed 
Commissary  General  on  the  staff  of  the  late  Governor  George  E. 
Lounsbury  and  later  succeeded  Heman  0.  Averill  as  Paymaster  Gen- 
eral, a  position  to  which  he  was  reappointed  by  George  P.  McLean, 
who  succeeded  Mr.  Lounsbury  as  Governor. 

On  June  1,  1887,  he  married  Ethel  Alexander,  daughter  of 
Luther  D.  and  Amelia  (Young)  Alexander.  They  have  two  chil- 
dren, Helen  Estelle  and  Beatrice.  Their  home  is  in  Wauregan. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  General  Atwood  has  been  appointed 
Paymaster  General  on  the  staff  of  Governor  Woodruff. ' 


ISAAC  WATTS  BROOKS 

B  BOOKS,  ISAAC  WATTS,  senator  from  the  Thirtieth  Dis- 
trict and  president  of  the  Brooks  National  Bank  of  Torring- 
ton,  is  a  native  of  Goshen,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut. 
He  was  born  at  the  ancestral  home  in  the  southern  part  of  that 
town  on  November  8th,  1838.  His  ancestry  he  traces  back  to  Thomas 
Brooks  of  England  who  came  to  this  country  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. 

Mr.  Brooks'  parents  were  Watts  H.  Brooks  and  Mary  Wadhams 
Brooks.  His  father  was  an  industrious  farmer  who  kept  well  abreast 
of  the  times  and  who  represented  Goshen  in  the  Legislature.  The 
son  grew  up  on  the  farm,  taking  his  part  in  the  daily  routine  and 
obtaining  a  good  education  in  the  district  schools  and  at  Goshen 
Academy.  Later  he  went  to  Brown  University  in  Providence.  He 
did  not  graduate,  but  subsequently  he  received  the  degree  of  A.M. 
from  that  institution. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two,  he  entered  into  the  mercantile  business 
in  Goshen,  where  he  continued  with  success  until  1871.  During  this 
period  of  ten  years  he  was  the  town  clerk.  In  1872  he  removed  to 
Torrington  and  with  his  brother,  under  the  firm  name  of  Brooks 
Brothers,  he  established  a  banking  house  which  was  to  play  an  impor- 
tant part  in  the  wonderful  industrial  development  of  that  section  and 
of  the  Naugatuck  Valley.  It  is  amply  descriptive  of  the  banking 
house  to  say  that  through  twenty-seven  years  no  other  bank  of  ex- 
change was  necessary  in  that  community,  despite  its  wonderful  growth 
as  a  manufacturing  town.  And  no  national  bank  was  organized  there 
until  1899,  when  the  Brooks  National  Bank  was  incorporated  with 
Mr.  Brooks  as  president.  Of  the  Torrington  Savings  Bank  he  has 
been  treasurer  since  its  incorporation  in  1873,  the  year  after  he  re- 
moved to  Torrington. 

The  benefit  of  his  financial  ability,  amounting  to  true  genius, 
has  been  enjoyed  by  Torrington  ever  since  he  went  there  to  live,  he 
having  held  the  office  of  treasurer  of  the  town  ever  since  his  first  elec- 

18 


14  ISAAC   WATTS  BROOKS. 

tion  in  1872  and  of  the  borough  ever  since  its  incorporation  in  1887. 
The  books  in  each  of  these  offices  of  treasurer  are  remarkable  for  their 
clearness  and  accuracy. 

From  the  beginning  he  has  been  keenly  interested  in  all  that  per- 
tains to  the  general  welfare.  Instrumental,  among  other  things,  in 
establishing  and  perfecting  the  water  system,  he  has  served  as  presi- 
dent of  the  Torrington  Water  Company  since  1878.  From  1885  to 
1889,  he  was  judge  of  the  probate  court  for  the  district  of  Torrington. 
His  first  term  as  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  was  in  1884  when 
he  was  House  chairman  of  the  committee  on  finance.  In  1893  he 
was  again  sent  to  represent  his  town  in  the  House  and  was  the  unani- 
mous choice  of  the  Eepublican  caucus  for  speaker,  a  position  to  which 
he  was  elected  by  a  large  majority  in  the  House.  Present  at  every 
session,  prompt,  clear,  and  impartial  in  his  rulings,  he  made  an  en- 
viable record  as  presiding  officer,  as  was  attested  by  both  Democrats 
and  Eepublicans.  In  1884  he  was  appointed  by  Governor  Waller  a 
member  of  the  state  tax  commission  whose  work  resulted  in  great  im- 
provement of  the  statutes  relating  to  taxation.  In  1906  he  was  once 
more  called  upon  to  do  duty  in  the  Legislature,  this  time  as  member 
of  the  Senate  from  the  Thirtieth  District. 

In  1886  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  receivers  for  the  Charter 
Oak  Life  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford,  a  position  to  test  his  abili- 
ties to  the  utmost. 

Senator  Brooks'  religious  affiliations  are  with  the  Congregational 
Church.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  of 
the  Order  of  Founders  and  Patriots  of  America,  of  the  Society  of 
Colonial  Wars,  and  of  the  Torrington  Club.  His  recreation  has  been 
largely  in  the  form  of  foreign  travel. 


LYMAN  BUSHNELL  BRAINERD 

BKAINEKD,  LYMAN  BUSHNELL,  president  of  the  Hartford 
Steam  Boiler  Inspection  &  Insurance  Company,  and  director 
and  trustee  of  some  of  the  most  substantial  institutions  in 
Hartford,  was  born  in  Colchester,  New  London  County,  Connecticut, 
March  27th,  1856,  the  son  of  Asa  Brainerd  and  Susan  Elizabeth 
Brainerd.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and,  as  there  were  seven  other 
children  to  be  provided  for,  the  boy  Lyman  was  unable  to  secure  a 
thorough  education.  He  attended  the  public  schools  in  the  country 
and  studied  one  term  at  Wesleyan  Academy,  Wilbraham,  Massachu- 
setts. After  leaving  school  Mr.  Brainerd  taught  a  district  school  in 
Moodus  for  a  short  time,  but,  although  he  was  successful  as  a  teacher, 
he  did  not  wish  to  make  teaching  his  life  work  and  he  embraced  the 
first  business  opportunity  that  offered. 

In  March,  1876,  Mr.  Brainerd  began  his  business  career  in 
Middletown,  Connecticut,  as  fire-insurance  solicitor  for  Mr.  Anson 
F.  Fowler,  who  represented  the  Agricultural  Insurance  Company  of 
Watertown,  New  York,  and  from  whom  Mr.  Brainerd  learned  the 
details  of  the  fire  insurance  business.  Two  years  later,  in  1878,  he 
left  Mr.  Fowler  to  become  a  canvasser  for  the  State  Mutual  Fire  In- 
surance Company  of  Hartford,  but  at  the  end  of  a  year  he  left  this 
company  to  accept  a  higher  position  with  the  Jersey  City  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company,  with  which  he  was  identified  for  seven  years  during 
which  time  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  general  agent  and  adjuster. 
In  1886  Mr.  Brainerd  entered  the  employ  of  the  Equitable  Mortgage 
Company  of  New  York  City  as  negotiator  of  bonds.  The  following 
year  he  was  made  secretary. of  the  company  and  in  1890  he  became 
manager  of  its  bond  department.  Mr.  J.  M.  Allen  was  then  president 
of  the  Hartford  Steam  Boiler  Inspection  and  Insurance  Company  and 
a  friendship  between  Mr.  Allen  and  Mr.  Brainerd  grew  out  of  Mr. 
Brainerd's  business  visits  to  Hartford.  Through  Mr.  Allen  Mr.  Brain- 
erd was  offered  the  position  of  assistant-treasurer  of  the  Hartford 
Steam  Boiler  Company  and  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  that  office  in 

15 


16  LYMAN   BUSHNELL    BRAINERD. 

1894.  In  1899  he  was  made  treasurer  and  in  1903  he  became  a  direc- 
tor of  the  company.  Mr.  Allen  died  in  1903  and  Mr.  Brainerd  was 
considered  the  most  capable  and  worthy  man  to  fill  his  place  and  on 
July  12th,  1904,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  company.  Mr.  Brain- 
erd is  also  a  director  in  the  Case,  Lockwood  &  Brainard  Company,  in 
the  Security  Company,  and  in  the  latter  he  is  a  member  of  the  finance 
committee,  he  is  a  trustee  and  member  of  the  loaning  committee  of 
the  Society  for  Savings,  and  trustee  and  chairman  of  the  executive 
committee  of  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  First  Church  of  Christ  (  Center  Congregational  Church  ),  of 
the  Hartford  Club  and  the  Hartford  Golf  Club.  He  has  always 
been  a  Republican  in  political  allegiance. 

On  the  28th  of  October,  1903,  Mr.  Brainerd  was  married  to  Miss 
Lucy  Morgan  Brainerd,  by  whom  he  has  had  one  child,  Mary 
Leverett.  Their  home  is  at  144  Washington  Street,  Hartford. 


HENRY  SABIN  CHASE 

CHASE,  HENRY  SABIN,  manufacturer  and  financier  of  Water- 
bury,  New  Haven  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  that  city, 
October  1st,  1855,  a  descendant  of  early  Puritan  settlers  who 
came  from  England  to  Massachusetts  in  earliest  Colonial  days.  He  is 
the  son  of  Augustus  Sabin  Chase  and  Martha  Starkweather  Chase. 
His  father  was  a  banker  and  manufacturer  of  Waterbury,  and  a  man 
of  prominence  and  usefulness.  He  was  the  first  town  treasurer, 
served  as  representative  in  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  a  member 
of  several  of  the  city  boards,  and  a  promoter  of  many  of  Waterbury's 
foremost  institutions.  Characterized  by  the  best  "  New  England 
traits"  —  integrity,  thrift,  and  self-reliance,  he  was  a  man  of  just 
and  cool  judgments,  warm  sympathies,  and  a  great  lover  of  nature 
and  literature.  Mr.  Chase's  mother  is  an  admirable  woman  whose 
influence  in  her  family  has  been  strong  and  good  in  every  respect. 

Brought  up  by  well-to-do  parents  and  blessed  with  good  health, 
Henry  S.  Chase  had  no  obstacles  to  overcome  to  get  an  education. 
He  was  fond  of  all  boyish  sports,  but  he  was  also  fond  of  good  books, 
and  read  Latin,  Greek,  and  English  literature  with  zest  and  appre- 
ciation. He  also  pursued  more  general  courses  of  reading  and  gave 
more  time  to  this  than  does  the  average  person.  He  attended  the 
Waterbury  public  schools,  The  Gunnery  at  Washington,  Connecticut, 
Hopkins  Grammar  School  in  New  Haven,  and  then  entered  Yale  Col- 
lege, where  he  graudated  in  1877  with  the  degree  of  B.A.,  and  soon 
entered  upon  the  career  of  his  choice,  that  of  manufacturer. 

The  first  work  which  Mr.  Chase  undertook  was  that  of  a  minor 
position  in  the  office  and  works  of  a  brass  mill.  He  is  now  president 
of  the  Chase  Rolling  Mill  Company,  the  Waterbury  Manufacturing 
Company,  director  of  the  Waterbury  National  Bank,  and  various 
other  manufacturing  and  financial  corporations,  and  a  trustee  of 
many  institutions.  He  is  a  director  of  the  Waterbury  Hospital,  the 
Waterbury  Industrial  School,  and  treasurer  of  the  Waterbury  Sink- 
ing Fund.  Mr.  Chase  is  a  man  of  very  wide  interests.  The  growth 

10 


20  HENRY    SABIN    CHASE. 

of  manufacturing  industries  under  his  care  has  been  phenomenal. 
The  personal  elements  that  have  contributed  to  his  success  are  good 
health,  even  temper,  fair-mindedness,  attractive  personality,  tact, 
and  intuitive  knowledge  of  men  and  affairs.  He  is  manager  of  the 
Waterbury  American,  a  leading  independent  newspaper  of  New  Eng- 
land. 

As  a  club  man  Mr.  Chase  has  many  ties  and  interests,  being  a 
member  of  the  Manhattan  Club,  the  University  Club,  and  the  City 
Club  of  New  York,  of  several  fishing  clubs  in  Canada,  and  of  various 
other  social  and  local  clubs.  In  politics  he  is  an  Independent,  having 
been  a  Eepublican  until  1884,  when  he  "  mugwumped."  The  family 
are  attendants  of  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church.  In  the  matter  of 
recreation  Mr.  Chase  has  taken  delight  in  horseback  riding,  driving, 
and  fishing,  and,  of  late,  automobiling ;  and,  when  indoors,  whist  or 
other  games  of  cards  and  reading.  On  the  fourth  of  April,  1899,  Mr. 
Chase  married  Alice  Morton,  by  whom  he  has  had  five  children: 
Mildred,  Edith,  Anne,  Katherine,  and  Kodney,  all  of  whom  are  now 
living.  Mr.  Chase  believes  that  the  strongest  influence  upon  his  life 
and  the  greatest  incentive  to  success  has  been  exerted  by  the  person- 
ality and  example  of  his  honored  father.  His  own  counsel  for  others 
is  "the  pursuit  of  legitimate  objects  in  legitimate  ways;  hard,  pa- 
tient work,  square  and  truthful  dealings,  and  concentration  of  mind 
and  purpose." 


WILLIAM  JOSEPH  LONG 

LONG,  REV.  WILLIAM  JOSEPH,  Ph.D.,  pastor  of  the  First 
Church    (Congregational)    of    Stamford,    Fairfield    County, 
Connecticut,    who   is   well   known   for   his    eloquence    as    a 
preacher,  his  liberality  as  a  theologian,  and  for  his  high  standing  as 
a  naturalist  and  author,  was  born  in  North  Attleboro,  Massachusetts, 
April  3d,  1867.     He  is  of  Irish  parentage  and  is  the  son  of  Dennis 
and  Catherine  (Burke)  Long.     On  his  mother's  side  he  traces  his 
ancestry  to  the  family  of  Edmund  Burke.     The  American  branch  of 
the  family  was  founded  in  1848. 

After  pursuing  the  courses  prescribed  at  the  North  Attleboro 
High  School  and  the  Bridgewater  State  Normal  School,  William 
J.  Long  entered  Harvard  University,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1892.  He  spent  the  following  three  years  in  studying  for  the  min- 
istry at  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  and  after  his  graduation 
from  that  institution  he  went  abroad  to  study  at  the  Heidelberg 
University,  where  he  received  the  degrees  of  A.M.  and  Ph.D.  in 
1897.  He  also  carried  on  further  study  at  the  Universities  of 
Paris  and  Rome,  and  spent  the  year  of  1897  and  '98  doing  research 
work  in  philosophy,  history,  and  theology  at  those  two  Universities. 
At  that  time  and  at  later  periods  he  traveled  extensively  in  Europe. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  United  States  in  1898  Dr.  Long  gained 
immediate  prominence  as  a  preacher  and  liberal  theologian  through 
his  notable  defense  of  ministerial  liberty  made  before  the  council  at 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  that  year.  In  1899  he  was  ordained 
to  the  Congregational  ministry  at  Stamford  and  he  has  been  pastor 
of  the  First  Church  of  Stamford  until  recently,  when  overwork  and 
a  threatened  loss  of  eyesight  compelled  him  most  reluctantly  to  re- 
sign. At  present,  though  preaching  occasionally  in  many  cities,  he 
is  released  temporarily  from  the  active  work  of  the  ministry. 

As  a  naturalist  and  writer  William  Joseph  Long  is  well  known  to 
the  world  of  science  and  to  the  general  public.    He  has  made  natural- 
istic study  the  chief  recreation  of  his  vacation  periods,  which  are 
2  21 


22  WILLIAM   JOSEPH   LONG. 

spent  in  exploring,  in  camping  and  salmon  fishing,  and  which  have 
led  him  all  over  the  northern  part  of  North  America  in  fruitful  ex- 
plorations. Besides  many  excellent  articles  in  magazines  he  is  the 
author  of  the  following  longer  works :  — "  The  Making  of  Zimri 
Bunker/'  1898;  "Ways  of  Wood  Folk,"  1899;  "Wilderness  Ways," 
1900;  "Beasts  of  the  Field,"  and  "Fowls  of  the  Air,"  1901;  "Fol- 
lowing the  Deer,"  1903;  "School  of  the  Woods,"  1902;  "A  Little 
Brother  to  the  Bear,"  1903;  "Northern  Trails,"  1905;  "Brier 
Patch  Philosophy,"  1906;  and  "English  Life  and  Literature,"  1907; 
the  last  named  book  being  a  scholarly  history  of  Literature  in  Eng- 
land from  the  first  landing  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  until  the  present 
day.  His  animal  books  show  an  intense  love  of  nature  and  her  folk, 
careful  and  patient  study  of  their  ways,  and  are  as  attractive  in  style 
as  they  are  interesting  and  instructive  in  their  nature. 

In  1900  the  author  married  Frances  Marsh  Bancroft,  daughter  of 
Professor  Cecil  F.  P.  Bancroft,  LL.D.,  of  Andover,  Massachusetts. 
Three  children,  Lois,  Frances,  and  Bancroft  Long,  have  been  born 
to  them.  Dr.  Long  makes  his  present  home  in  Stamford,  where,  in 
addition  to  his  literary  work,  public  lectures,  and  preaching,  a  part  of 
his  time  is  always  given  to  charitable  work  in  his  own  city. 


/ 


CHARLES  PHELPS 

P  HELPS,  CHARLES,  lawyer  and  state's  attorney,  Tolland 
County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  East  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
August  10th,  1852.  His  earliest  ancestors  in  America  were 
William  and  George  Phelps  who  emigrated  from  Tewksbury,  Eng- 
land, to  New  England  in  1630.  George  Phelps  first  settled  in 
Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  and  came  to  Windsor,  Connecticut,  in 
1635,  moving  again  to  Westfield,  Massachusetts,  where  he  died  in 
1687.  Mr.  Phelps  is  in  the  eighth  generation  of  descent  from  this 
George  Phelps,  the  line  of  his  descent  being  through  Jacob,  Benjamin, 
Benjamin  (2),  Benjamin  (3),  Levi  and  the  Kev.  Benjamin  C.  Phelps, 
the  last  being  Mr.  Phelps'  father,  a  Methodist  clergyman  who  was 
also  chaplain  and  librarian  of  the  Connecticut  State's  Prison.  Mr. 
Phelps'  father  was  above  everything  else  a  hard  worker,  and  besides 
these  offices  and  his  pastorate  he  went  as  missionary  to  the  whalemen 
in  the  South  Atlantic  and  Indian  Oceans.  Mr.  Phelps'  mother  was 
Sarah  Parker  Humphrey  and  her  influence  was  in  all  respects  the 
strongest  ever  exerted  upon  him. 

It  was  with  much  difficulty  that  Mr.  Phelps  acquired  an  educa- 
tion, for  he  was  reared  in  a  small  village  and  worked  at  intervals  upon 
the  farm.  During  one  year  of  his  school  life  he  went  to  sea.  He 
was  very  fond  of  reading  and  took  especial  pleasure  in  history  and 
biography  with  Irving  and  Macaulay  always  near  at  hand.  After 
attending  the  schools  in  Wethersfield  he  prepared  for  college  and 
graduated  from  Wesleyan  University  in  1875.  He  then  read  law 
for  two  years  with  B.  H.  Bill  of  Rockville,  who  was  State's  Attorney, 
and  was  admitted  to  the  Tolland  County  Bar  in  1877. 

Mr.  Phelps  has  continued  steadily  in  the  practice  of  law  since 
his  admission  to  the  Bar,  and  his  career  as  a  lawyer  has  been  marked 
by  many  important  and  successful  suits  in  both  State  and  United 
States  Courts.  He  represented  Tolland  County  on  the  State  Board 
of  Examiners  of  applicants  for  admission  to  the  Bar  for  many 
years.  He  was  county  coroner  from  the  time  of  the  creation  of  that 

25 


26  CHAKLES    PHELPS. 

oflSce  in  1883  until  his  appointment  as  State's  Attorney,  and  he 
was  City  Attorney  and  prosecuting  attorney  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  was  the  first  Attorney-General  of  Connecticut,  holding  that  office 
from  1899  to  1902.  For  two  years,  from  1897-99,  he  was  Secretary 
of  State.  In  1885  he  was  a  member  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives 
from  the  town  of  Vernon,  and  in  1903  he  was  State  Senator  from 
the  twenty-third  Senatorial  District.  In  1902  he  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention. 

The  law  and  politics  are  by  no  means  the  extent  of  Mr.  Phelps' 
active  interests.  He  is  a  member  of  the  college  fraternity  Psi 
Upsilon,  of  the  Odd  Fellows,  both  of  the  Eising  Star  Lodge  No.  49 
at  Eockville  and  of  the  Midian  Encampment  at  Hartford,  and  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  He  finds  his  most 
congenial  exercise  in  the  saddle  and  on  the  links.  In  addition  to 
the  other  duties  that  make  up  Mr.  Phelps'  busy  life  he  is  a  director 
in  the  Eockville  National  Bank.  On  March  28th,  1900,  Mr.  Phelps 
was  married  to  Elsie  Edith  Sykes,  a  daughter  of  the  late  George 
Sykes.  They  have  had  no  children. 

The  profession  of  law  was  Mr.  Phelps'  personal  preference  and 
he  has  persisted  in  it  faithfully  and  with  great  success.  To  home 
influences,  first  of  all,  he  owes  his  impulse  to  succeed  and  his  stead- 
fastness in  following  that  impulse. 


WILLIAM  LEWIS  ELKIN 

ELKIN,  PEOFESSOE  WILLIAM  LEWIS,  director  of  the 
observatory  at  Yale  University,  is  a  native  of  New  Orleans, 
La.,  where  he  was  born  on  April  29th,  1855.  He  was  the  son 
of  Lewis  and  Jane  Magoon  Fitch  Elkin  of  that  city.  His  father, 
prominent  in  mercantile  life  in  the  Gulf  metropolis,  was  especially 
interested  in  educational  matters  and  held  the  important  position  of 
superintendent  of  the  public  schools  in  New  Orleans. 

Altogether,  the  youth  was  surrounded  by  an  atmosphere  that 
inspired  him  to  mental  effort.  Though  his  physical  condition  in  early 
childhood  was  not  of  the  best,  his  power  of  application  was  strong. 
and,  under  wise  direction  and  with  every  advantage,  his  love  for 
learning  was  indulged  to  the  utmost.  After  attending  private  schools 
at  home,  he  went  abroad  and  studied  in  foreign  lands,  first  in  Switzer- 
land. In  1876  he  was  graduated  from  the  Eoyal  Polytechnic  School 
at  Stuttgart,  Germany,  with  the  degree  of  civil  engineer. 

Thence  going  to  Strasburg  he  pursued  his  studies  still  further 
under  eminent  instructors  and  in  1880  received  from  Strasburg  Uni- 
versity the  degree  of  Ph.D.  Having  followed  his  taste  for  scientific 
study,  and  especially  for  astronomy,  and  having  received  this  degree, 
he  wished  to  apply  his  knowledge  and  acquire  practical  experience  in 
the  best  way  possible.  Accordingly  he  seized  the  opportunity  to  go  to 
the  Eoyal  Observatory  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  as  a  volunteer 
observer  to  begin  with,  and  then,  in  1881,  as  a  regular  astronomer. 
There  he  was  associated  with  Sir  David  Gill  and  devoted  much 
attention  to  the  investigation  of  the  parallaxes  of  the  southern  stars. 

Thus  his  education  had  been  well  rounded  out,  when  in  1884 
he  was  summoned  to  New  Haven  to  take  the  position  of  astronomer  at 
the  University,  where  he  now  occupies  the  office  of  director  of  the 
observatory,  to  which  he  was  appointed  in  1896.  Yale  gave  him  the 
degree  of  M.A.  in  1893. 

Since  his  graduation  at  the  University  of  Strasburg,  his  pen  has 

27 


28  WILLIAM   LEWIS   ELKJNT 

been  busy  with  astronomical  subjects  and  details  of  his  original  re- 
searches, for  astronomical  journals,  and  several  valuable  works  have 
been  published  by  him.  His  investigations  of  the  stellar  parallax  and 
of  star  clusters  and  his  photography  of  meteors  have  added  materially 
to  the  scientific  literature  of  the  day,  receiving  recognition  in  marked 
degree  abroad  as  well  as  in  this  country.  He  has  been  chosen  a 
foreign  associate  of  the  Koyal  Astronomical  Society  of  London,  and 
he  holds  membership  in  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences. 

Professor  Elkin  married  Miss  Catherine  Adams  in  1896;  their 
home  at  No.  477  Prospect  Street,  New  Haven,  is  not  far  from  the 
observatory  of  which  he  is  the  director. 


MARO  SPAULDING  CHAPMAN 

CHAPMAN,  HON  MAEO  SPAULDING,  late  manufacturer, 
banker  and  public  man,  general  manager,  secretary  and 
treasurer  of  the  Hartford  Manufacturing  Company,  presi- 
dent of  the  Plimpton  Manufacturing  Company,  president  of  the  City 
Bank  of  Hartford,  treasurer  of  the  Manchester  Light  and  Power 
Company  of  Manchester,  ex-representative  and  state  senator,  and  a 
man  of  great  prominence  in  business  and  political  affairs  in  Man- 
chester and  Hartford,  was  born  in  East  Haddam,  Middlesex  County, 
Connecticut,  February  13th,  1839.  On  the  paternal  side  Mr.  Chap- 
man is  in  the  seventh  generation  of  descent  from  Eobert  Chapman, 
born  in  England  in  1616,  who  came  to  Boston  in  1635,  and  settled 
in  Saybrook  in  1636.  This  original  ancestor  of  the  family  in  America 
was  deputy  to  the  General  Court  from  Saybrook  forty-three  times 
and  held  other  town  offices  of  importance.  Eobert  Chapman,  second 
of  the  name,  was  a  prominent  member  of  legislature,  an  extensive 
landowner  and  a  town  surveyor.  Mr.  Chapman's  father  was  Nathaniel 
Chapman,  a  tanner  and  farmer,  a  man  who  was  very  active  and  ener- 
getic and  who  was  characterized  by  absolute  straightforwardness  and 
reliability  and  by  the  strength  of  his  convictions  and  opinions.  His 
second  wife,  Mr.  Chapman's  mother,  was  Hannah  Percival  Chapman, 
a  woman  of  fine  education,  strong  character  and  vigorous  mind,  whose 
influence  for  good  was  the  strongest  ever  exerted  upon  her  son. 

A  farmer's  son  and  naturally  active  and  strong,  Maro  Chapman 
was  busy  both  in  and  out  of  school  and  began  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen to  be  entirely  self-supporting.  His  education  was  confined  to 
that  afforded  by  the  common  school  of  East  Haddam  and  two  years 
at  a  private  school  in  the  same  village.  Farm  duties  took  most  of  his 
time  outside  of  school  and  the  home  life  was  too  busy  for  extensive 
reading,  but  he  made  it  a  point  then  as  throughout  his  later  life  to 
keep  in  touch  with  all  movements  in  business  and  politics.  At  seven- 
teen he  went  to  work  as  clerk  in  the  country  store  in  his  native  vil- 
lage and  a  year  later  he  did  similar  work  in  Manchester,  Connecticut. 

31 


32  MARO  SPAULDING  CHAPMAN. 

At  nineteen  he  sold  books  by  subscription  throughout  Pennsylvania. 
The  next  change  in  his  career  was  brought  about  by  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War  and  its  stirring  challenge  to  young  men  of  patriotic 
spirit  like  young  Mr.  Chapman.  He  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Com- 
pany C,  12th  Eegiment,  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  served  with 
great  faithfulness  for  a  year  and  six  months. 

At  the  close  of  his  term  of  military  service,  Mr.  Chapman  entered 
upon  the  career  of  business  and  public  activity  which  he  has  con- 
tinued uninterruptedly  ever  since.  From  1869  to  1874  he  was  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  commercial  envelopes  as  a  member  of 

o    o  * 

the  Plimpton  Manufacturing  Company  of  Hartford,  which  secured 
the  contract  for  the  manufacture  of  stamped  envelopes  for  the  United 
States  government  in  1874  and  became  the  United  States  Stamped 
Envelope  Works,  with  Mr.  Chapman  as  general  manager.  The  con- 
cern is  now  owned  by  the  Hartford  Manufacturing  Company,  of 
which  Mr.  Chapman  was  general  manager,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
The  company  employs  three  hundred  and  fifty  persons  and  its  daily 
output  is  five  and  one-half  million  envelopes.  It  has  supplied  all 
of  the  stamped  envelopes  used  by  the  government  and  by  the  post- 
office  department  at  Washington  for  over  thirty-two  years.  It  was 
through  the  tact,  the  perseverance  and  the  executive  ability  of  Mr. 
Chapman  that  his  company  was  able  to  secure  the  contract  and  was 
capable  of  fulfilling  it  so  successfully.  The  struggle  for  the  contract 
was  a  long  and  difficult  one  and  in  presenting  his  claim  Mr.  Chapman 
faced  tremendous  opposition  heavily  involved  in  political  differences, 
but  his  shrewdness,  justice  and  honest  appeal  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  government,  backed  by  the  high  grade  of  work  done  by  his 
company,  won  the  day  and  achieved  the  merited  victory. 

Mr.  Chapman  also  was  most  influential  in  starting  and 
developing  other  industries  and  financial  organizations  in  Hartford 
and  Manchester.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Hartford  Manila 
Company  and  its  president  from  1878  to  1890.  He  originated  the 
Hartford,  Manchester  and  Eockville  Tramway  Company,  was  its 
president  and  general  manager  for  ten  years  and  held  nearly  two- 
thirds  of  the  stock  until  it  was  sold  to  the  Shaw  syndicate  of  Boston 
in  1905.  He  was  president  of  the  Plimpton  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, president  of  the  City  Bank  of  Hartford,  and  treasurer  of  the 
Manchester  Light  and  Power  Company  of  Manchester,  Connecticut. 


MARO  SPAULDING  CHAPMAN.  33 

In  public  life  Mr.  Chapman  had  many  honors  and  responsi- 
bilities, particularly  those  in  the  gift  of  the  Eepublican  party,  with 
which  he  maintained  a  lifelong,  active  connection.  He  repre- 
sented Manchester  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1882,  during  which 
session  he  was  chairman  of  the  committee  on  cities  and  boroughs.  He 
was  state  senator  from  the  second  district  in  1884  and  1885  and  was 
then  chairman  of  the  committee  on  railroads.  At  the  Republican 
State  Convention  in  1900  he  was  unanimously  chosen  presidential 
elector  for  Hartford  and  Tolland  Counties.  For  ten  years  he  was 
chairman  of  the  Eoad  and  Bridge  Commission  of  Manchester  and  he 
is  now  chairman  of  the  "  Committee  of  Fifteen "  appointed  by  the 
town  of  Manchester  in  1905  to  secure  a  better  and  broader  system  of 
town  government.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Eepublican  Town  Com- 
mittee of  Manchester  for  over  thirty  years  and  its  chairman  for  twelve 
years. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Chapman  was  a  Mason  and  an  Odd  Fellow.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Eepublic,  of  the  Drake  Post 
of  Manchester  and  was  commander  of  that  post  continuously  for  nine 
years.  He  was  a  Congregationalist  in  creed  and  a  liberal  supporter  of 
his  church.  His  busy  life  allowed  but  little  time  for  recreation, 
though  he  always  took  much  pleasure  in  driving  a  good  horse. 

Mr.  Chapman  was  twice  married,  in  1861  to  Lucy  Wood- 
bridge,  who  died  in  1869,  leaving  one  daughter,  and  again  in  1871 
to  Helen  Bobbins  of  Manchester,  who  is  the  mother  of  two  daughters. 
Their  home  is  in  South  Manchester,  Connecticut. 

The  eminent  success  won  by  Maro  Chapman  in  business  and 
political  life  added  force  to  his  sound  advice  to  young  men  starting  in 
life.  He  bade  them  to  "be  absolutely  truthful  and  direct  in  every- 
thing. Strive  to  make  yourself  so  useful  that  you  become  a  necessity 
to  whatever  undertaking  you  engage  in,  or  to  your  employer.  Never 
watch  the  clock.  Be  personally  interested  in  all  you  attempt  to  do." 

Maro  S.  Chapman  died  at  Yonkers,  New  York,  March  21st, 
1907.  The  following  editorial,  taken  from  the  Hartford  Times  of 
that  date,  shows  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held. 

"  The  death  of  Maro  S.  Chapman  is  a  loss  to  the  community  in 
which  for  many  years  he  has  been  an  esteemed  and  useful  citizen.  He 
was  a  man  of  decisive  manner,  who  preferred  to  accomplish  things 
peaceably  and  without  display,  but  he  had  courage  and  persistence 


34  MARO  SPAULDING  CHAPMAN. 

for  any  emergency.  If  it  came  to  a  fight  in  politics  or  in  business  he 
took  it  as  part  of  his  day's  work,  and  always  gave  a  good  account  of 
himself.  In  this  he  was  like  the  trained  soldier  who  fights  because 
it  is  his  business  when  certain  contingencies  arise,  but  is  likely  to  be 
rather  more  peaceful  than  some  of  those  about  him  unless  fighting  is 
the  necessity  of  the  situation.  This  temperament  is  as  useful  in  busi- 
ness as  in  soldiering,  and  Mr.  Chapman  was  a  first-rate  man  of 
business.  He  made  his  plans  carefully,  he  could  look  ahead  and 
estimate  the  future,  and  he  was  not  a  rainbow  chaser.  Fortune  in- 
terferes in  the  affairs  of  all  men,  but  those  who  trust  least  to  fortune 
and  guard  as  far  as  possible  against  contingencies  become  in  propor- 
tion to  their  capacity  and  opportunity  the  masters  instead  of  the 
slaves  of  chance.  His  business  life  is  too  well  known  to  require  special 
mention  here,  although  it  is  proper  to  mention  as  an  illustration  his 
part  in  the  making  of  the  Manchester  Street  Eailway  Company.  He 
made  that  company  what  it  became,  and  both  in  general  scheme  and 
in  the  details  of  its  operation  he  showed  conclusively  his  ability  to 
plan  soundly  and  execute  effectively." 


SYLVESTER  CLARK  DUNHAM 

DUNHAM,  SYLVESTER  CLARK,  President  of  the  Travelers 
Insurance  Company  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  born  in 
Mansfield,  Tolland  County,  Connecticut,  April  24th,  1846. 
He  is  the  son  of  Jonathan  Lyman  Dunham  and  Abigail  Hunt 
Eldredge.  On  his  mothers  side  Mr.  Dunham's  ancestry  is  traceable 
to  two  names  that  will  always  thrill  the  sons  and  daughters  of  New 
England;  William  Brewster,  Ruling  Elder  of  the  Pilgrim  Company 
that  founded  the  parent  colony  of  New  England  at  Plymouth  in 
1620,  and  Stephen  Hopkins,  his  fellow  passenger  on  the  Mayflower. 
The  part  of  these  men  in  colonial  history  is  too  well  known  to  need 
repetition  here.  William  Brewster,  who  was  born  in  1563,  married 
Mary  Eldridge,  from  whom  Abigail  Hunt  Eldridge  was  directly 
descended.  The  name  of  Eldredge,  or  Eldred,  is  of  Saxon  origin, 
being  the  name  of  several  early  Saxon  kings.  John  Eldred  of  Great 
Saxham,  Suffolk  (1552-1632),  was  a  great  traveler,  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  Virginia  in  1607.  He  was  a  member  of  His  Majesty's 
Council  for  the  Virginia  Company  of  London,  from  which  the  Pil- 
grim Fathers  obtained  their  patent,  though  contrary  winds  carried 
them  to  Massachusetts  instead  of  Virginia.  It  is  reasonably  sup- 
posed that  the  Mayflower  Eldredges  were  related  to  this  John  Eldred 
in  some  way. 

Mr.  Dunham's  father  was  a  farmer  in  occupation,  a  man  who  was 
absolutely  square  in  his  relations  with  his  fellow  men.  Mr.  Dunham's 
health  as  a  boy  was  good,  and  as  he  lived  in  the  country,  and  was 
raised  on  a  farm,  his  youth  was  one  of  vigorous  industry.  He  had 
many  difficulties  to  overcome  in  acquiring  an  education,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  few  terms  in  the  common  schools,  two  country  academies, 
and  Mount  Union  College.  His  taste  in  reading  was  of  a  nature  to  sup- 
plement well  this  rather  meagre  schooling,  for  he  delighted  in  history, 
biography,  and  the  best  fiction,  and  was  a  devoted  admirer  of  Dickens 
and  Shakespeare,  the  only  poet  whom  he  read  extensively.  He 
made  such  good  use  of  his  few  educational  advantages  that  he 

36 


36  SYLVESTER    CLARK   DUNHAM 

began  his  work  in  life  as  a  teacher  in  a  district  school  in  Ohio  in  1863, 
at  the  age  of  seventeen,  choosing  this  course  for  himself,  and  having 
parental  approval  and  encouragement.  While  in  Ohio  Mr.  Dunham 
joined  a  little  literary  society  organized  by  the  Eev.  Edward  Lamb, 
to  whose  influence  he  owes  his  first  strong  impulse  to  win  life's  prizes. 
After  teaching  two  years  Mr.  Dunham  became  editor  of  the  New 
Britain  Record,  spending  the  moments  spared  from  journalistic  duties 
in  studying  law  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  Charles  E.  Mitchell.  He  was 
also  clerk  of  police  court  in  New  Britain. 

In  1871  Mr.  Dunham  was  admitted  to  the  Hartford  County  Bar. 
and  in  1873  he  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Hartford  in  the  office  of 
Hon.  Henry  C.  Eobinson,  and  he  continued  his  legal  practice  for  ten 
years.  During  that  time,  on  October  18th,  1877,  he  married  Mary 
Mercy  Austin  and  one  child,  now  living,  was  born  to  them.  During  a 
part  of  this  same  decade  Mr.  Dunham  was  engaged  in  mining  litiga- 
tions in  the  West  for  Eastern  clients.  From  1883  to  1885  he  was 
secretary  of  the  P.  &  F.  Corbin  Hardware  Company  of  New  Britain. 
Connecticut.  Then,  at  the  request  of  the  late  President  James  G.  Bat- 
terson,  he  became  General  Counsel  for  the  Travelers  Insurance  Com- 
pany of  Hartford  and  acted  in  this  capacity  for  two  years.  In  1897 
he  was  made  vice-president  of  the  company,  and  in  1901,  upon  Mr. 
Batterson's  death,  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  president,  which  he 
still  holds.  Mr.  Dunham  is  also  a  director  in  several  banks,  insurance 
companies,  and  other  corporations,  including  the  Connecticut  Fire 
Insurance  Company,  the  American  Hardware  Corporation,  and  the 
International  Banking  Corporation,  and  is  treasurer  of  the  Colorado 
Valley  Land  Company.  Though  his  legal  education  was  self-con- 
ducted, Mr.  Dunham's  success  as  a  lawyer  won  him  the  position  of 
city  attorney  of  Hartford  for  three  years.  He  has  served  on  the 
Board  of  Water  Commissioners  and  in  many  other  official  capacities. 

Socially,  Mr.  Dunham  is  a  member  of  the  Union  League  Club 
of  New  York,  of  the  New  England  Society  of  Mayflower  Descendants, 
of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Eevolution,  of  the  Twentieth  Century 
Club  of  Hartford,  of  which  literary  society  he  has  been  president,  of 
the  Hartford  Club,  of  which  he  is  now  vice-president,  and  of  other 
local  clubs  and  societies.  Politically,  Mr.  Dunham  has  been  a  life-long 
Eepublican,  though  he  has  not  been  bound  by  party  lines  in  local  pol- 
itics. His  religious  affiliation  is  with  the  Congregational  Church.  He 


8TLVBSTEB   CLARK"  DUNHAM  37 

is  a  traveler  of  considerable  experience,  and  according  to  his  own 
modest  estimation  he  is  "  something  of  a  fisherman." 

Though  handicapped  by  a  limited  education,  and  by  many  diffi- 
culties and  disappointments,  Mr.  Dunham,  through  the  perseverance 
and  industry  which  he  deems  the  best  remedies  for  failure,  has 
acquired  great  legal  and  business  ability,  and  a  broad  culture,  and  he 
has  attained  to  such  success  in  life  as  his  responsible  position  indicates 
and  his  steady  purpose  has  deserved.  Mr.  Dunham  modestly  declines 
to  give  advice  to  those  coming  after  him,  but  they  may  find  it  embodied 
in  his  life,  the  key-note  of  which  has  been  perseverance  and  self- 
development. 


JOHN  EMERY  MORRIS 

MOEEIS,  JOHN  EMEEY,  of  Hartford,  was  born  in  Spring- 
field,   Hampden    County,    Massachusetts,,    November    30th. 
1843.    His  father  was  Henry  Morris,  a  sea  captain  who  was 
lost  at  sea  when  his  son  was  an  infant.     On  his  father's  side  Mr. 
Morris  is  a  descendant  of  Edward  Morris,  who  came  from  England 
and  settled  in  Eoxbury,  Massachusetts,  in  1633;  and  on  his  mother's 
side  he  traces  his  ancestry  back  to  Pierre  Bontecou,  a  Huguenot 
refugee  who  left  La  Eochelle,  France,  and  came  to  New  York  in 
1688. 

Mr.  Morris  was  brought  up  in  Springfield,  where  he  attended 
the  public  schools,  and  carried  newspapers,  until  at  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  became  clerk  in  the  Charter  Oak  Bank  in  Hartford.  This 
position  he  obtained  through  the  influence  of  his  uncle,  who  was 
cashier  in  the  bank.  Four  years  later  he  became  clerk  in  the  Travel- 
ers Insurance  Company.  Cashier  and  assistant  secretary  were  the 
steps  by  which  in  1898  he  reached  his  present  position  of  secretary 
and  member  of  the  board  of  governors.  In  1899  he  became  also  direc- 
tor of  the  Charter  Oak  Bank,  a  position  which  he  still  holds.  For 
over  twenty  years  he  has  been  clerk  of  the  Second  Ecclesiastical  Soci- 
ety of  Hartford.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society,  the  Huguenot  Society  of  America,  Sons  of  the  American 
Eevolution  and  the  Order  of  Founders  and  Patriots  of  America.  He 
has  written  several  genealogical  works. 

Mr.  Morris  was  married  in  1867  to  Mary  P.  Felt.  They  have 
had  three  children,  all  of  whom  are  living.  He  attends  the  Congrega- 
tional church.  His  favorite  amusements  are  fishing,  tramping,  and 
taking  photographs.  In  the  political  world  he  has  always  been  asso- 
ciated with  the  Eepublican  party. 

The  successful  life  of  Mr.  Morris  shows  how  by  faithful  appli- 
cation, and  without  any  exceptional  advantages  of  education,  the 
paper  boy  and  bank  clerk  may  become  a  bank  director  and  a  man  of 
prominence  and  influence  in  the  community. 

38 


FREDERICK  BUTTON  GETMAN 

GETMAN,  FEDEEICK  HUTTON,  Ph.D.,  physical  chemist, 
instructor  in  physical  science  in  the  Stamford  High  School 
and  vice-president  of  the  Getman  and  Judd  Lumber  Company 
of  Stamford,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Oswego,  Oswego  County, 
New  York,  February  9th,  1877.  His  first  ancestor  in  this  country 
was  Frederick  Getman  (Kettemann)  who  came  from  Germany  and 
settled  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  in  New  York  State.  Dr.  Getman's 
father,  Charles  Henry  Getman,  was  a  lumber  merchant  of  Stamford 
and  one  of  the  most  progressive,  influential  and  worthy  citizens  of 
that  town.  He  was  president  of  the  Stamford  board  of  trade,  a  bank 
director  and  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  legislature  and  he  was 
greatly  esteemed  for  his  business  capability  and  energy,  his  honesty, 
strength  of  character  and  refinement.  His  wife,  Dr.  Getman's  mother, 
was  Alice  Peake  Getman  and  her  noble,  womanly  character  and  ideals 
exerted  a  powerful  influence  for  good  upon  her  son's  intellect  and 
character. 

A  marked  interest  in  and  aptitude  for  physical  science  charac- 
terized Frederick  Getman  in  early  youth  and  promised  a  scientific 
profession  for  his  future  work  in  life.  He  was  brought  up  in  the 
small  city  of  Stamford  and  his  early  education  was  acquired  at  King's 
School  in  that  place.  He  spent  much  time  reading  books  on  physics 
and  chemistry  outside  of  school  hours  and  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough 
entered  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute  in  Troy,  New  York,  where 
he  prepared  himself  for  college.  He  then  entered  the  department  of 
chemistry  in  the  University  of  Virginia  in  Charlottesville,  Virginia, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1896. 

The  opening  of  the  first  school  term  after  his  graduation  from 
the  University  of  Virginia  found  Mr.  Getman  in  the  position  of  in- 
structor in  chemistry  and  physics  in  the  Stamford  High  School, 
where  he  remained  from  1897  to  1901.  From  1901  to  1903  he 
studied  at  the  Johns  Hopkins  University,  where  he  was  fellow  in 
chemistry  in  1902-3  and  where  he  received  his  Ph.D.  degree  in  1903. 


40  FREDERICK:  HUTTON  GETMAN. 

He  spent  the  college  year  of  1903-4  as  Carnegie  Research  As- 
sistant in  physical  chemistry  and  in  1904  was  called  to  the  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York  as  lecturer  in  physical  chemistry.  In  1905 
Dr.  Getman  returned  to  Stamford  as  instructor  in  physical  science  in 
the  High  School. 

Dr.  Getman  is  the  author  of  "  Elements  of  Blowpipe  Analysis/' 
published  in  1899 ;  of  "  Laboratory  Exercises "  and  "  Exercises  in 
Physical  Chemistry,"  published  in  1904,  and  of  numerous  and  valu- 
able scientific  articles  on  freezing  points  of  solutions  and  kindred 
subjects.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  of  the  American  Chemical  Society,  of  the 
American  Physical  Society  and  of  the  Washington  Academy  of 
Sciences  and  is  a  fellow  of  the  London  Chemical  Society.  In  under- 
graduate days  his  high  standing  won  him  membership  in  the  Phi  Beta 
Kappa  fraternity.  In  politics  he  unites  with  the  Eepublican  party 
and  in  religion  with  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Golf  and  bicycling 
are  his  most  pleasurable  and  helpful  forms  of  recreation.  Dr.  Get- 
man was  married  November  26th,  1906,  to  Miss  Ellen  M.  Holbrook  of 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  and  makes  his  home  at  811  Atlantic  Street, 
Stamford.  Home  influences  have  been  the  strongest  upon  his  life 
and  his  professional  success  and  he  places  "  contact  with  men  in  active 
life  "  and  "  private  study  "  as  next  in  importance.  Though  a  young 
man  Dr.  Getman  has  attained  a  high  place  in  scholarship  and  in 
scientific  research  and  is  one  of  the  foremost  chemists  of  Connecticut. 


ELIZUR  S.  GOODRICH 

GOODRICH,  ELIZUR  S.,  former  president  of  the  Hartford 
Street  Railway  Company  and  of  the  Hartford  and  New 
York  Transportation  Company  before  the  absorption  of 
both  of  these  companies  by  the  Consolidated  Railroad,  and  one  of 
Connecticut's  most  active  and  conscientious  politicians,  represents 
a  very  old  family  of  ancient  English  lineage  and  of  early  prominence 
is  this  country.  He  was  born  in  Wethersfield,  Hartford  County, 
Connecticut,  December  28th,  1834,  the  son  of  Elizur  and  Jerusha  W. 
Stillman  Goodrich.  His  father  was  a  civil  engineer  by  trade  and 
through  him  Mr.  Goodrich  traces  his  ancestry  through  six  generations 
to  William  Goodrich  who  came  from  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Suffolk 
County,  England,  in  1635  and  settled  in  Wethersfield,  which  town  he 
represented  in  the  General  Court  of  1662.  This  William  Goodrich 
was  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  men  of  the  same  name  who  were  known 
in  Great  Britain  previous  to  the  Norman  Conquest  and  who  are  re- 
corded in  the  Doomsday  Book. 

Studying  the  lessons  taught  at  the  district  schools  of  Wethers- 
field and  performing  various  farm  labors  kept  Elizur  S.  Goodrich  very 
busy  in  boyhood.  He  also  took  a  course  of  study  at  Williston  Sem- 
inary in  Easthampton,  Massachusetts.  He  inherited  his  father's 
interest  in  engineering  and  showed  marked  ability  along  that  line  of 
work. 

In  1854,  when  he  was  twenty  years  old,  Mr.  Goodrich  began  the 
active  work  of  life  as  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  the  chief  engineer  of  the 
Hartford,  Providence  and  Fishkill  Railroad.  He  served  this  com- 
pany in  various  capacities  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  when  he  resigned 
from  the  office  of  general  ticket  agent  to  take  charge  of  the  Hartford 
and  Wethersfield  Horse  Railway  Company  which  was  organized  in 
1863.  In  January,  1864,  he  was  made  president  of  the  company 
which  afterwards  became  the  Hartford  Street  Railway  Company. 
Mr.  Goodrich  was  its  president  during  its  entire  existence  until  1906 
when,  after  over  forty  years  of  his  management,  the  company  was 
3  43 


44  ELIZUB  8.   GOODRICH. 

bought  up  by  the  Consolidated  Eailroad.  In  1885  Mr.  Goodrich 
became  president  of  the  Hartford  and  New  York  Transportation 
Company,  then  in  a  bankrupt  condition.  He  built  the  company  up 
rapidly  and  permanently  and  was  its  president  for  over  twenty  years, 
that  is,  until  its  recent  consolidation. 

In  addition  to  the  long  management  of  two  such  enormous  and 
successful  concerns,  Mr.  Goodrich  has  been  a  leader  in  politics  and  a 
loyal  and  active  Eepublican.  In  1895  he  represented  Wethersfield 
in  the  State  Legislature  and  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  in- 
corporations and  of  the  judiciary  committee.  In  1897  he  was  state 
senator  from  the  second  district  and  served  as  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  cities  and  boroughs.  He  was  re-elected  senator  in  1899, 
and  again  in  1901. 

Mr.  Goodrich  is  a  director  of  the  City  Bank  of  Hartford.  He 
is  a  thirty-second  degree  Mason,  a  member  of  the  Sphinx  Temple, 
Mystic  Shrine,  a  charter  member  of  Lafayette  Lodge,  a  member  of 
Washington  Commandery,  Knights  Templar,  and  a  member  of  the 
Hartford  Club.  He  has  a  home  in  Hartford,  but  spends  most  of  his 
time  at  the  Wethersfield  homestead.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife, 
Mary  Ann  Hanmer  Goodrich,  whom  he  married  in  1859,  and  of  two 
children,  James  E.  and  Mabel  E.,  the  wife  of  George  H.  Gilman  of 
Hartford.  Mr.  Goodrich  is  a  man  of  rare  energy  and  organizing 
ability  and  his  long  life  has  been  full  of  honorable  achievement  in 
business  and  public  life. 


CURTIS  MANNING  GEER 

GEER,  EEV.  CURTIS  MANNING,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  professor  of 
church  history  at  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  or- 
dained clergyman  of  the  Congregational  Church,  scholar  and 
writer,  who  was  born  in  Lyme,  New  London  County,  Connecticut, 
August  llth,  1864,  is  the  son  of  John  Avery  and  Lucretia  Rogers  Geer. 
His  father  was  a  machinist  of  considerable  inventive  ability  and  a  de- 
scendant of  George  Geer  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  New 
London,  Connecticut,  in  1651.  On  his  mother's  side  Dr.  Geer  traces 
his  ancestry  to  James  Rogers  who  came  from  England  to  New  London 
previous  to  1660. 

The  little  village  of  Lyme  was  the  scene  of  most  of  Curtis  M. 
Geer's  boyhood  experiences.  He  studied  at  the  Bacon  Academy  in 
Colchester,  Connecticut,  and  then  entered  Williams  College,  where  he 
took  his  B.A.  degree  in  1887. 

He  chose  the  ministry  as  his  calling  in  life  and  at  the  close  of 
his  academic  course  entered  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  1890.  He  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  the  same  year,  and  in  June  entered  upon  his  first 
pastorate  —  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  East  Windsor,  near 
Hartford.  He  continued  his  studies  at  the  Seminary  during  the 
period  of  his  first  pastorate,  doing  post-graduate  work  in  history  and 
economics.  In  September,  1892,  he  was  sent  to  Germany  on  a  fel- 
lowship from  the  Hartford  Seminary  and  spent  two  years  in  study 
at  Leipzig  University,  where  he  received  the  degree  of  M.A.  and  Ph.D. 
Returning  from  Europe  in  1894  he  became  a  lecturer  in  the  Hartford 
School  of  Sociology.  In  1895  he  resigned  from  this  position  to  ac- 
cept a  call  from  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  Danvers,  Massa- 
chusetts. In  1897  he  became  professor  of  history  and  economics  at 
Bates  College  in  Lewiston,  Maine,  where  he  remained  until  he  received 
the  call  to  his  present  chair  in  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 
During  his  residence  in  Lewiston  he  was  superintendent  of  the  Pine 
Street  Congregational  Sunday  School  and  president  of  the  local 

45 


46  CUETIS  MANNING  GEER. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  He  was  also  a  trustee  of  the  Lewiston  Social  Settlement 
and  in  this  and  many  other  capacities  he  worked  with  great  zeal  and 
public  spirit  for  the  betterment  of  his  fellowmen.  He  was  frequently 
called  upon  as  preacher  and  lecturer  and  extended  his  reputation  for 
clear,  thoughtful,  earnest  and  forceful  speaking  in  many  directions. 

In  September,  1901,  Dr.  Geer  received  the  call  from  his  Alma 
Mater  and  became  professor  of  church  history  in  the  Hartford  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  which  chair  he  still  holds  in  that  superior  and  well 
known  institution.  In  1904  he  published  his  able  work  on  "  The 
Louisiana  Purchase  and  the  Westward  Movement."  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  American  Historical  Society.  He  has  always  been  an  ad- 
herent of  the  Republican  party  in  politics.  Walking  and  mountain 
climbing  have  proven  in  his  experience  the  most  profitable  and  bene- 
ficial forms  of  exercise.  His  home  is  in  West  Hartford. 

Dr.  Geer's  family  numbers  a  wife  and  three  children,  though 
four  have  been  born  to  him.  Mrs.  Geer  was  Mary  Louise  Gillett, 
whom  he  married  in  September,  1890. 


FRANK  GORHAM 

GORHAM,  DR.  FRANK,  physician,  medical  examiner  of  Wes- 
ton,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  and  former  member  of 
the  General  Assembly,  was  born  in  Weston,  on  September 
27th,  1852.  He  is  descended  from  Samuel  Morgan,  who  came  from 
Wales  about  1700,  from  the  Bennetts,  who  came  from  Scotland,  and 
from  the  Godfreys,  Princes,  and  Buckleys,  who  came  from  England 
in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries.  His  father  was  George 
Morgan  Gorham,  a  country  merchant  and  farmer,  whose  most  marked 
characteristics  were  modesty,  love  of  nature,  and  charity.  Dr.  Gor- 
ham's  mother  was  Angeline  Buckley  Gorham,  a  woman  whose  chief 
aim  was  to  make  her  son  honest  and  industrious. 

Reading,  hunting  and  fishing  were  Frank  Gorham's  chief  in- 
terests as  a  boy.  The  family  library  was  limited,  but  he  read  every- 
thing he  could  find  and  liked  especially  biography,  travels,  works 
of  adventure  and  history,  the  sort  of  history  that  is  non-statistical 
and  permeated  with  warm  human  interest.  He  was  expected  to  per- 
form all  the  tasks  that  are  found  for  farmers'  boys  to  do  and  besides 
these  spent  considerable  time  as  clerk  in  his  father's  store,  an  experi- 
ence which  taught  him  much  about  human  nature.  After  the  usual 
district  school  education  and  one  term  at  a  private  school  taught  by 
a  college  graduate,  he  entered  Yale  Medical  School,  where  he  studied 
both  medicine  and  surgery  and  graduated  in  1876  with  the  degree 
of  M.D.,  having  been  appointed  valedictorian  of  his  class. 

Immediately  after  his  graduation  he  began  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine in  his  native  town  and  has  devoted  himself  wholly  to  that  profes- 
sion ever  since.  He  was  determined  when  a  young  boy  to  make  medi- 
cine his  life  work  and  his  sole  ambition  since  he  opened  his  practice 
has  been  to  give  his  best  abilities  to  securing  the  best  welfare  of  his 
clients.  This  singleness  of  purpose  grew  largely  out  of  the  influence 
of  his  sister  Mary,  who  died  in  1882,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  has 
resulted  in  making  him  eminent  in  his  profession  and  secure  in  the 
confidence  of  his  many  patients.  He  is  health  officer  and  coroner's 

47 


48  FRANK    GORHAM. 

medical  examiner  for  his  town  and  is  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Fairfield  County  Medical  Society. 

While  Dr.  Gorham  is  a  Republican  in  political  faith  he  is  not 
"  hidebound  "  in  his  allegiance  to  that  party.  In  1883  and  again  in 
1901  he  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  in  1902  he  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Connecticut  Constitutional  Convention.  He  has  no 
special  hobby,  but  is  a  lover  of  old  books,  dogs  and  horses,  and  delights 
in  a  game  of  chess.  He  has  been  twice  married  and  has  had  no  chil- 
dren by  either  wife.  In  1889  he  married  Carrie  E.  Coley  of  West- 
port,  a  graduate  of  Mt.  Holyoke  College,  and  she  died  February  22d, 
1892.  In  June,  1893,  Dr.  Gorham  married  his  second  wife,  Fanny 
W.  Salmon  of  Weston. 

Dr.  Gorham  shares  with  others  the  secret  of  his  own  success  in 
life  when  he  advises  them  to  "  always  strive  to  be  ready  to  admit 
opportunity  quickly  when  she  knocks  at  your  door;  for  knock  she 
will,  but  she  soon  tires  of  craving  admission  to  those  places  where 
no  preparations  have  been  made  for  her  reception." 


JOHN  TOMLINSON  HUBBARD 

HUBBARD,  JOHN  TOMLINSON,  lawyer,  president  of  the 
Echo  Farm  Company,  justice  of  the  peace,  grand  juror,  for- 
mer state  representative,  and  a  lifelong  resident  of  Litch- 
field,  Connecticut,  was  born  there  November  30th,  1856.  His  first 
American  ancestor  was  John  Hubbard  of  Pomfret,  who  was  born  in 
Woodstock,  Connecticut,  in  1689.  Joseph  Hubbard,  son  of  this  origi- 
nal John  Hubbard  and  great-grandfather  of  the  present  Mr.  Hubbard, 
was  a  well-known  Tory,  who  lived  on  a  farm  next  to  that  of  General 
Putnam  and  who  carried  on  a  friendship  with  him  during  the  Revo- 
lution  and  afterwards  settled  in  Salisbury,  according  to  the  General's 
advice.  On  the  maternal  side  Mr.  Hubbard  is  a  direct  descendant  of 
Thomas  Welles,  fourth  governor  of  Connecticut,  and  on  the  paternal 
side  he  is  directly  descended  from  John  Webster,  fifth  governor  of 
Connecticut.  He  is  also  collaterally  related  to  Gov.  Gideon  Tomlinson 
and  Gov.  Robert  Treat.  Another  ancestor,  John  Catlin,  was  first 
treasurer  of  Litchfield  County.  Mr.  Hubbard's  father,  John  Henry 
Hubbard,  was  an  attorney-at-law  by  profession  and  he  was  state's 
attorney  for  his  county,  state  senator  and  congressman  two  terms  each. 
He  was  industrious,  persevering  and  sympathetic  toward  those  in 
trouble  and  his  teaching  and  example  were  long  remembered  by  his 
son.  His  wife,  Mr.  Hubbard's  mother,  Abby  Jane  Wells  Hubbard,  is 
an  excellent  woman  who  did  much  toward  shaping  her  son's  high 
ideals. 

The  usual  interests  and  occupations  of  a  healthy  country  boy 
busied  John  T.  Hubbard  in  his  youth,  which  was  spent  in  the  country 
town  of  Litchfield.  He  was  fond  of  literature  and  spent  a  great  deal 
of  time  reading  historical  works  and  the  best  fiction,  learning  at  an 
early  age  to  select  novels  with  a  good  influence  and  to  discard  the 
cheap  and  worthless  ones.  Sir  Walter  Scott  was  his  favorite  author. 
He  prepared  for  college  at  a  private  school  in  Litchfield  and  then  took 
the  academic  course  at  Yale  University,  receiving  his  A.B.  degree  in 
1880.  He  then  entered  Yale  Law  School  and  took  his  LL.B.  degree 

49 


50  JOHN  TOMLINSON  HUBBARD. 

in  1883.  His  choice  of  the  legal  profession  resulted  from  the  union  of 
personal  preference  and  maternal  wishes. 

As  soon  as  he  left  law  school  Mr.  Hubbard  began  the  practice  of 
law  in  Litchfield  and  he  has  maintained  a  successful  practice  there 
ever  since.  He  has  also  had  many  business  and  public  interests.  In 
1885  he  became  president  of  the  Proprietors  of  the  Ore  Bed  in  Salis- 
bury, Connecticut,  one  of  the  oldest  mining  corporations  in  the  country 
and  the  only  sucessful  one  in  Connecticut,  and  he  held  this  office  for 
eleven  years.  From  1885  to  1892  he  was  clerk  of  probate  for  the  dis- 
trict of  Litchfield.  Since  1883  he  has  been  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
since  1892  he  has  been  grand  juror.  In  1900  and  1901  he  was  warden 
of  the  borough  of  Litchfield  and  in  1901  he  represented  Litchfield  in 
the  General  Assembly,  serving  on  the  judiciary  committee  during 
that  session.  He  was  re-elected  representative  the  following  year  and 
again  served  on  the  judiciary  committee.  Since  1899  he  has  served 
as  a  member  of  the  state  bar  examining  committee.  He  is  a  director 
in  the  Litchfield  Fire  Insurance  Company  and  in  the  Litchfield  Sav- 
ings Society.  He  is  also  president  of  the  Echo  Farm  Company.  He 
is  as  interested  in  religious  matters  as  in  business  and  public  affairs 
and  is  a  zealous  member  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  He  is 
junior  warden  of  St.  Michael's  Church  and  treasurer  of  the  First 
Episcopal  Society  of  Litchfield.  Though  he  is  a  Republican  in  politi- 
cal faith  he  is  not  strongly  partisan  and  he  is  a  believer  in  tariff  for 
revenue  only.  The  only  societies  to  which  he  belongs  are  the  Litch- 
field Scientific  Society  and  the  Litchfield  County  University  Club. 

A  thorough  and  resourceful  stiident,  Mr.  Hubbard  has  never  con- 
fined his  mental  life  to  professional  study.  He  is  greatly  interested  in 
social  problems  and  is  engaged  in  developing  plans  for  a  method  of 
dealing  with  the  "tramp  problem"  in  this  state.  He  is  also  inter- 
ested in  an  investigation  of  the  mineral  resources  of  Connecticut  and 
he  frequently  contributes  articles  to  local  papers.  As  a  young  man 
Mr.  Hubbard  devoted  much  time  to  baseball  and  in  later  life  he  has 
taken  his  exercise  in  bicycling,  walking,  and  working  in  his  garden. 


AUGUSTUS  MILO  BLAKESLEY 

BLAKESLEY,  AUGUSTUS  MILO,  banker  of  Waterbury  and 
the  president  of  the  American  Pin  Company,  was  born  in 
Plymouth,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  March  4th,  1830. 
He  is  descended  from  Simeon  Blakeslee,  a  member  of  the  English 
gentry,  who  followed  Eichard  Co3ur  de  Lion  in  his  crusade.  His 
first  ancestors  in  America  were  Samuel  and  John  Blakeslee,  who 
came  from  England  to  Massachusetts  and  purchased  Boston  Neck. 
Moses  Blakeslee,  grandson  of  Samuel,  was  a  deacon  and  a  prominent 
factor  in  the  public  life  of  his  day.  Milo  Blakesley,  Mr.  Blakesley's 
father,  a  clock  manufacturer  and  farmer,  was  a  devout  deacon  of 
his  church,  a  strong  Abolitionist  and  a  man  who  held  many  local 
offices.  He  was  the  first  to  change  the  spelling  of  the  name  from 
Blakeslee  to  Blakesley.  Mr.  Blakesley's  mother,  who  was  Dorcas 
Hine  McKee,  was  of  Scottish  lineage  and  a  woman  of  great  moral 
and  spiritual  depth  and  influence.  Mr.  Blakesley's  brother,  Linus 
Blakesley,  was  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of  Topeka, 
Kansas,  for  twenty-nine  years,  and  is  one  of  the  most  prominent 
ministers  of  his  denomination. 

The  first  fifteen  years  of  Mr.  Blakesley's  life  were  spent  on  his 
father's  farm  at  Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and  his  education  was  the 
limited  one  that  usually  falls  to  the  lot  of  country  boys.  His  first  work 
was  that  of  a  clerk  in  a  country  store.  In  1849  he  went  to  Waterbury 
and  was  employed  by  J.  M.  and  W.  H.  Scoville,  merchants.  At  the 
end  of  three  years  he  was  given  the  position  of  teller  in  the  Waterbury 
Bank.  He  was  made  cashier  in  1864  and  he  has  held  that  office  con- 
tinuously ever  since,  making  his  connections  with  that  bank  of  fifty- 
three  years  duration. 

As  president  of  the  American  Pin  Company  Mr.  Blakesley  takes 
an  interest  in  manufacturing  second  only  to  his  interest  in  banking. 
He  is  treasurer  of  the  Waterbury  Hospital  and  actively  interested 
in  all  affairs  concerning  the  public  good.  He  was  one  of  the  fifty 
original  members  of  the  Second  Congregational  Church  of  Waterbury 

58 


54  AUGUSTUS  MILO  BLAKESLEY. 

and  has  always  been  one  of  the  most  zealous  workers  in  that  Church. 
He  is  treasurer  of  the  Sunday  School  and  has  been  a  deacon  since 
1879.  The  musical  service  of  the  church  was  in  his  hands  until  1874, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son  as  organist  and  choirmaster.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Eepublican  and  was  town  treasurer  at  one  time.  He 
finds  his  most  enjoyable  relaxation  in  a  game  of  golf. 

On  September  5th,  1853,  Mr.  Blakesley  married  Margaret 
Orr  Johnson,  who  died  in  1885,  leaving  two  children,  a  son  and  a 
daughter,  Albert  Johnson  Blakesley,  who  has  been  connected  with 
the  Waterbury  National  Bank  for  the  past  thirty-one  years  and  is 
now  assistant  cashier,  and  Jennie  Elizabeth,  who  is  now  the  wife 
of  Dr.  J.  M.  Benedict 


LEANDER  L.  HULL 

HULL,  LEANDER  L.,  whose  extensive  interests  in  hardware 
manufacture  and  in  banking,  and  whose  personal  integrity 
and  ability  as  a  business  man  make  him  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  Clinton,  Middlesex  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  that 
town  March  5th,  1829,  and  represents  a  very  old  Colonial  family 
which  has  played  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  Clinton  and  its 
neighboring  towns  for  many  generations.  The  Hull  family  was 
founded  in  this  country  by  George  Hull  who  came  from  England  to 
Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  in  1629,  and  was  selectman  of  Dorchester 
and  deputy  to  the  General  Court  in  1634.  He  afterwards  moved  to 
Connecticut  and  was  assistant  governor  and  a  representative  to  the 
General  Court  for  several  sessions.  Mr.  Hull's  father  was  Capt. 
Levi  Hull,  a  sea  captain  engaged  in  coasting  trade  from  New  York 
to  Bangor,  Maine,  and  in  command  of  vessels  of  his  own  private 
ownership.  He  was  a  most  sagacious  and  able  business  man  and  a 
devout  and  generous  Christian.  His  wife,  Leander  Hull's  mother, 
was  Betsey  Dibbell  Hull  of  Clinton. 

The  district  schools  and  the  Clinton  Academy  furnished  Leander 
Hull's  early  education.  His  father  wished  him  to  engage  in  a  sea- 
faring life  and  took  him  on  coasting  trips  as  soon  as  he  considered 
him  old  enough  to  go.  The  boy  found  seafaring  life  uncongenial  and 
refused  several  offers  of  the  captaincy  of  various  trading  vessels. 

Determining  upon  a  mercantile  career,  Mr.  Hull  became  a  clerk 
in  Deacon  William  Hull's  store  in  Clinton.  He  soon  bought  up  the 
business,  took  his  father  into  partnership  and  established  the  firm  as 
L.  Hull  &  Son,  the  junior  partner  being  the  actual  manager  of  the 
business.  Twelve  years  later  Mr.  Hull  sold  out  the  business  in  which 
he  had  been  most  successful  and  became  the  wholesale  agent  for  a 
number  of  important  hardware  manufacturing  firms,  making  his  head- 
quarters at  Clinton.  These  firms  were  for  the  most  part  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  scales,  mechanical  tools,  and  various  specialties 
in  hardware,  the  most  prominent  houses  being  the  Yale  &  Towne 

55 


56  LEANDEE  L.  HULL. 

Manufacturing  Company  of  Stamford,  John  S.  Fray  &  Company 
and  I.  J.  Spencer  of  Guilford.  He  developed  an  extensive  and 
lucrative  business,  supplying  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  ex- 
porting to  foreign  countries  on  a  large  scale.  At  first  he  traveled 
with  his  own  goods,  but  as  the  business  grew  he  was  obliged  to  devote 
his  time  to  the  central  office  in  Clinton  and  employ  commercial  agents 
to  take  the  products  on  the  road.  He  gave  all  his  energy  and  busi- 
ness ability  to  this  business  until  1898,  when  he  sold  out  and  retired. 
This  large  and  exacting  business  absorbed  his  time  and  strength  to 
the  exclusion  of  public  office  holding,  but  he  has  always  found  time 
and  heart  to  be  a  devoted  and  active  Republican.  In  1892  Mr.  Hull 
was  elected  president  of  the  Clinton  National  Bank  and  he  still  holds 
this  position.  He  is  trustee  and  stockholder  in  a  number  of  prominent 
business  institutions,  including  the  Guilford  Savings  Bank,  the  Yale 
&  Towne  Manufacturing  Company,  the  Miller  Falls  Company,  and 
the  United  States  Rubber  Company. 

Since  his  retirement  from  active  business  Mr.  Hull  has  continued 
to  make  Clinton  his  home  and  the  center  of  his  interests.  His  wife 
is  Evaline  Dowd  Hull,  whom  he  married  in  December,  1854.  No 
children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hull. 


WILLIAM  CONRAD  WILE 

WILE,  WILLIAM  CONRAD,  M.D.,  A.M.,  LL.D.,  physician, 
surgeon,  editor,  and  author,  of  Danbury,  Fairfield  County, 
Connecticut,  ex-president  of  the  American  Medical  Edi- 
tors' Association,  of  the  Fairlield  County  Medical  Association,  and 
of  the  Danbury  Medical  Society,  and  ex-vice-president  of  the  Con- 
necticut State  Medical  Society,  founder  and  for  twenty-one  years  the 
editor-in-chief  of  the  New  England  Medical  Monthly,  was  born  in 
Pleasant  Valley,  Dutchess  County,  New  York,  January  23,  1847. 
His  father  was  the  Rev.  Benjamin  Franklin  Wile,  a  Presbyterian 
clergyman,  a  man  devoted  to  his  life  work,  eloquent,  earnest,  and  of 
great  public  spirit.  Through  him  Dr.  Wile  is  a  descendant  of  Con- 
rad Wile,  who  came  from  Amsterdam.  Dr.  Wile's  mother  was  Betty 
Buckley  Wile,  a  woman  of  strong  character  and  intellect,  and  the 
daughter  of  William  Buckley,  who  came  from  England  to  America 
at  the  age  of  six  weeks. 

The  country  parsonage  which  was  the  scene  of  Dr.  Wile's  boy- 
hood days  was  attached  to  a  small  farm,  which  contributed  to  the 
family  support  and  on  which  his  earliest  labors  were  performed.  A 
delicate  constitution,  and  frequent  periods  of  ill  health  prevented  his 
taking  a  very  active  part  in  athletics  or  in  manual  work  and  as  a  rule 
he  preferred  play  to  work.  His  preliminary  education  was  acquired  at 
a  boarding  school  in  Cornwall,  New  York,  and  at  College  Hill  Semi- 
nary in  Poughkeepsie,  New  York.  While  he  was  in  preparatory  school 
the  Civil  War  broke  out,  and  though  he  was  but  fifteen  years  old  he 
enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  G,  150th  New  York  Volunteers,  and 
served  for  two  years  and  eight  months.  He  was  a  participant  in  the 
Battle  of  Gettysburg  and  was  one  of  those  who  marched  with  Sherman 
to  the  sea.  After  the  War  was  over  he  began  to  study  medicine,  and  in 
1867  he  entered  the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  New 
York,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1870  with  the  degree  of  M.D.  In 
later  years  he  has  received  two  honorary  degrees,  that  of  A.M.  from 
Centre  College.,  Kentucky,  and  that  of  LL.D.  from  Rutherford  Col- 
lege, North  Carolina. 

57 


58  WILLIAM  CONRAD  WILE 

As  soon  as  he  had  received  his  medical  degree,  Dr.  Wile  under- 
took the  practice  of  medicine,  has  first  professional  field  being  in 
New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey.  He  also  practiced  medicine  in  High- 
land, New  York,  and  in  Newtown,  Connecticut.  It  was  during  his 
residence  in  Newtown  that  he  conceived  the  idea  of  the  medical 
journal,  which  he  afterwards  published  as  the  New  England  Medical 
Monthly.  In  1877  he  was  called  to  the  Medico-Chirurgical  College  of 
Philadelphia  to  be  professor  of  mental  and  nervous  diseases.  At  the 
end  of  a  year  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill  health. 

Upon  resuming  the  regular  practice  of  medicine,  interrupted  by  a 
period  of  teaching,  Dr.  Wile  settled  in  Danbury,  which  has  been  his 
home  and  the  center  of  his  professional  interests  ever  since.  He  has 
developed  a  large  and  successful  practice  and  has  been  most  active  in 
promoting  movements  for  the  advancement  of  medical  science.  At 
different  times  he  has  been  president  of  the  American  Medical 
Editors'  Association,  vice-president  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation, vice-president  of  the  State  Medical  Society,  president  of  the 
Fairfield  County  Medical  Society,  president  of  the  Danbury  Medical 
Society,  Medical  Examiner  of  Danbury,  Consulting  Surgeon  to  the 
Danbury  Hospital,  and  he  was  the  founder  and  for  twenty-one 
years  the  editor  of  the  New  England  Medical  Monthly.  This  journal 
had  a  most  humble  beginning,  being  printed  in  a  barn,  and  it 
has  grown  through  Dr.  Wile's  efforts  and  ability  to  a  large  circula- 
tion, and  now  requires  forty  employees  to  bring  it  to  publica- 
tion. Dr.  Wile  is  an  able  and  prolific  writer  and  has  made  frequent 
and  valuable  contributions  to  medical  literature.  He  was  secretary 
of  the  section  of  anatomy  of  the  Ninth  International  Medical  Con- 
gress, and  he  is  a  member  of  the  British  Medical  Association.  He  is 
president  and  treasurer  of  the  Danbury  Medical  Printing  Company 
and  in  1894  he  was  president  of  the  Danbury  Board  of  Trade.  His 
keen  and  thorough  knowledge  of  surgery  and  medicine,  his  marked 
success  in  abdominal  surgery,  and  his  mechanical  ability  in  perfecting 
surgical  instruments  added  to  his  forceful  work  in  medical  litera- 
ture make  Dr.  Wile  one  of  the  foremost  physicians  in  Connecticut. 

Outside  of  the  professional  interests  to  which  he  so  freely  and 
fruitfully  gives  his  time  and  ability,  Dr.  Wile  has  but  few  strong 
interests.  He  is  a  thirty-second  degree  Mason,  a  member  of  the 


WILLIAM  CONRAD  WILE  59 

Lotus  Club  of  New  York,  of  the  Kepublican  party  in  politics,  and  is 
a  Presbyterian  in  religious  belief.  His  favorite  recreation  is  auto- 
mobiling.  His  home  is  on  Brushby  Hill  Eoad,  Danbury,  and  his 
family  numbers  a  wife  and  one  daughter,  Alice  B.  Wile.  Mrs.  Wile, 
n6e  Hattie  Adele  Loomis,  is  Dr.  Wile's  second  wife.  His  first  wife 
was  Eliza  Scott  Garretson. 

As  a  result  of  his  rich  experience  in  hard  work  and  abundant 
success  Dr.  Wile  advises  young  men  to  —  "Be  sure  you  are  right. 
Stick  to  it  and  go  ahead  with  indefatigable  industry.  Do  everything 
just  as  well  as  you  can  whether  the  subject  in  hand  be  little  or  big." 


CHARLES  EDWARD  PRIOR 

PRIOR,  CHARLES  EDWARD,  banker  and  musician,  vice-presi- 
dent and  treasurer  of  the  Security  Company  of  Hartford,  audi- 
tor of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company,  com- 
poser, organist,  and  a  leader  in  religious  work,  was  born  in  Plainfield 
near  Moosup,  Windham  County,  Connecticut,  January  24,  1856,  the 
son  of  Erastus  L.  Prior,  a  mill  overseer  and  farmer,  and  of  Sarah  L. 
Burleson  Prior.  His  father  was  a  deacon  in  the  Baptist  Church  and 
a  strong  advocate  of  temperance ;  his  mother  a  woman  of  great  moral, 
intellectual,  and  spiritual  force;  consequently,  his  home  influences 
were  wholesome  and  uplifting.  When  he  was  but  four  years  old  the 
family  moved  to  Jewett  City,  where  his  youth  and  early  manhood 
were  spent  and  where  he  received  a  good  common  school  education. 

Music  and  ornithology  were  his  chief  interests  as  a  boy.  He 
evinced  marked  musical  ability  at  a  very  early  age,  and  at  fourteen  he 
became  organist  in  the  Congregational  Church  in  Jewett  City,  and 
retained  that  position  for  eight  years,  during  a  portion  of  which  time 
he  studied  at  the  Worcester  Conservatory  of  Music.  He  was  also 
organist  and  choir  leader  for  many  years  at  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Jewett  City  of  which  he  became  a  member  in  early  life. 

He  supported  himself  for  a  time  by  working  in  the  railroad  sta- 
tion and  express  office  in  Jewett  City,  and  in  1873  entered  the  freight 
office  of  the  Norwich  &  Worcester  Railroad  Company  in  Norwich, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  Mr.  Prior's  love  for  the  railroad  and  for 
railroad  men  continues  to  this  day. 

In  1875  he  became  bookkeeper  and  paymaster  for  the  Ashland 
Cotton  Company,  a  large  and  prosperous  manufacturing  corporation. 
In  1883  he  was  elected  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Jewett  City 
Savings  Bank.  Two  years  later  he  became  a  member  of  its  corpora- 
tion, and  four  years  later  one  of  its  trustees.  A  fine  new  bank  build- 
ing was  erected  during  his  term  of  service. 

In  January,  1895,  he  resigned  his  official  connection  with  the 
Jewett  City  Bank  and  came  to  Hartford  to  accept  the  position  of 

60 


CHARLES   EDWARD   PRIOR.  63 

assistant  treasurer  of  the  Security  Company.  In  March,  1896,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  office  of  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  company, 
and  in  November,  1904,  he  became  its  vice-president  and  treasurer, 
which  dual  responsibility  he  still  holds. 

Since  1898  he  has  been  one  of  the  auditing  committee  of  the 
Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company. 

Music  has  been  the  chief  interest  in  Mr.  Prior's  life  outside  of 
business,  and  he  is  a  well-known  composer  of  both  sacred  and  secular 
songs.  He  has  made  a  most  earnest  and  fruitful  study  of  Sunday 
School  music,  and  has  compiled  and  published  several  excellent  and 
popular  Sunday  School  singing  books.  In  1883  appeared  his  first 
book,  "  Spicy  Breezes/'  prepared  in  collaboration  with  the  Eev.  C.  W. 
Kay,  D.D.,  of  Philadelphia,  one  of  his  former  pastors. 

In  1890  he  published  a  new  collection,  "  Sparkling  and  Bright," 
this  time  being  associated  with  J.  H.  Tenney  and  this  book  won  him 
wide  renown  as  a  composer  of  Sunday  School  music.  In  1892,  in  con- 
nection with  W.  A.  Ogden,  he  issued  a  third  successful  song  book, 
"  Our  Best  Endeavor."  He  has  been  for  many  years  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Worcester  County  (Mass.)  Musical  Association.  His 
familiarity  with  the  standard  Oratorios  is  rarely  equaled  even  among 
professional  musicians. 

Mr.  Prior  is  deeply  interested  in  religious  work,  being  a  member 
of  the  Asylum  Avenue  Baptist  Church  of  Hartford;  president  of  the 
Hartford  Baptist  Union;  vice-president  of  the  Connecticut  Baptist 
Convention,  and  a  director  of  the  Hartford  Y.  M.  C.  A.  He  was  super- 
intendent of  the  Asylum  Avenue  Baptist  Sunday  School  for  four 
years,  president  of  the  Young  People's  Society  of  his  church  during 
the  same  period,  and  at  one  time  treasurer  of  the  Baptist  Young 
People's  Union  of  Connecticut  for  several  years.  For  a  long  time 
Mr.  Prior  was  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Con- 
necticut Sunday  School  Association,  and  for  three  years  its  efficient 
treasurer.  He  is  at  present  the  association's  auditor. 

In  politics  Mr.  Prior  is  a  Kepublican  with  independent  tendencies. 
He  was  for  several  years  treasurer  of  the  town  of  Lisbon.  In  fraternal 
circles  he  became  affiliated  with  several  Masonic  bodies  early  in  life. 
He  is  past  master  of  Mt.  Vernon  Lodge,  No.  75,  F.  and  A.  M.,  of 
Jewett  City,  a  member  of  Franklin  Chapter,  E.  A.  M.,  of  Franklin 


64  CHARLES   EDWARD   PRIOR. 

Council,  E.  and  S.  M.,  and  of  Columbian  Commandery,  Knights 
Templar,  all  of  Norwich. 

Perhaps  next  to  Mr.  Prior's  love  of  music  may  be  mentioned  his 
passion  for  poetry  and  good  literature.  He  has  a  fine  library,  selected 
with  intelligent  discrimination,  and  a  large  number  of  scrap  books 
upon  which  he  has  bestowed  much  labor  and  in  which  he  takes  par- 
donable pride. 

Mr.  Prior  was  married,  in  1875,  to  Mary  Eleanor  Campbell.  Of 
the  four  children  born  to  them,  but  one  is  now  living,  Charles  Edward 
Prior,  Jr.,  assistant  treasurer  of  the  Security  Company  and  one  of 
Hartford's  finest  musicians  and  tenor  soloists. 

Mr.  Prior's  success  in  life  has  been  won  largely  through  his  own 
efforts,  by  doing  with  enthusiasm  and  conscientious  fidelity  every 
duty  that  has  devolved  upon  him. 


CLARK  SMITH  BEARDSLEE 

BEARDSLEE,  EEV.  CLARK  SMITH,  M.A.,  D.D.,  professor 
of  Biblical  Dogmatics  and  Ethics  at  the  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary,  clergyman,  scholar  and  author,  whose  present  home 
is  in  Windsor,  Hartford  Count}7,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Coventry, 
Chenango  County,  New  York,  February  1st,  1850.     His  father  was 
Samuel  Augustus  Beardslee,  a  farmer  who  was  respected  for  his  in- 
tegrity, godliness,  thrift  and  independence,  and  his  mother  was  Lois 
Diana  Smith  Beardslee,  who  died  when  he  was  but  five  years  old. 

Brought  up  on  a  busy  dairy  farm,  young  Clark  Beardslee  was 
kept  at  all  sorts  of  tasks  outside  of  school  hours.  He  was  never  over- 
worked, however,  and  as  he  was  perfectly  healthy  he  enjoyed  the 
manual  labor  and  gained  the  lasting  benefit  of  industrious  habits 
from  this  steady  occupation.  He  enjoyed  all  kinds  of  boys'  play  and 
his  early  reading  was  broad  and  general  as  well.  He  prepared  for 
college  at  Oxford  Academy  in  Oxford,  New  York,  and  then  matricu- 
lated at  Amherst  College.  He  was  graduated  from  Amherst  in  1876 
and  took  his  M.A.  degree  there  two  years  later.  He  then  entered  the 
Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  graduating  in  1879.  He  remained 
at  the  Seminary  as  an  instructor  in  Hebrew  and  was  engaged  in  this 
work  until  1883,  when  he  received  his  first  pastoral  call  to  a  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Lemans,  Iowa.  He  remained  there  two  years, 
when  he  resigned  to  take  a  pastorate  in  Prescott,  Arizona.  In  1886 
he  returned  to  New  England  and  became  pastor  of  a  Congregational 
church  in  West  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  he  held  this  pastorate 
two  years. 

In  1888  Mr.  Beardslee  was  called  to  the  chair  of  Biblical  Dog- 
matics and  Ethics  at  the  Hartford  Seminary,  where  he  had  prepared 
for  the  ministry  and  had  experienced  his  first  work  at  teaching.  He 
still  holds  that  professional  position.  In  1899  he  was  given  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  D.D.  by  Berea  College.  In  1903  he  published  his 
excellent  work,  "  Teacher-Training  with  the  Master  Teacher,"  and  in 
1904  his  book,  "  Jesus  the  King  of  Truth,"  a  scholarly  and  earnest- 

65 


66  CLARK  SMITH  BEARDSLEE. 

minded  work.  Since  becoming  a  professor  at  the  Seminary,  Prof. 
Beardslee  has  made  his  home  at  Windsor.  His  wife  is  Emma  Gillette 
Atwood  Beardslee,  whom  he  married  December  13th,  1882,  and  by 
whom  he  has  had  eight  children.  In  politics  he  has  usually  voted  the 
Eepublican  ballot.  He  has  no  fraternal  ties,  but  has  given  himself 
solely  to  his  life  work  of  studying  and  teaching  theology.  He  advises 
all  to  "have  faithful,  patient  persistence  in  some  honorable  line  of 
work."  He  estimates  the  strongest  influences  on  his  own  life  to  have 
been  the  wishes  and  influence  of  his  father  inculcating  "  a  strong, 
clear  sense  of  duty  and  the  very  powerful  influences  wrought  by  pri- 
vate study." 


HENRY  EDWARDS  CHICHESTER 

CHICHESTEE,  HENEY  EDWAEDS,  a  farmer  and  prominent 
office  holder  of  Wilton,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  was 
born  there  on  May  18th,  1840,  the  son  of  Aaron  and  Betsy 
Edwards  Chichester.  His  great-grandfather,  Abraham  Chichester, 
came  from  England  to  Long  Island  in  the  seventeenth  century  and 
moved  to  Connecticut  in  the  eighteenth  century.  He  was  a  soldier  in 
the  Eevolution,  his  son  was  a  leading  physician  in  Wilton,  and  his 
grandson,  Aaron  Chichester,  Mr.  Chichester's  father,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  War  of  1812.  Aaron  Chichester  was  a  farmer  in  times  of  peace, 
he  held  a  number  of  town  offices,  and  is  remembered  as  an  intensely 
religious  man  and  an  ardent  abolitionist.  He  died  when  his  son 
Henry  was  but  fourteen  years  old  and  it  was  therefore  necessary  for 
the  son  to  go  to  work  at  a  very  early  age.  So  at  fourteen  he,  too,  be- 
came a  farmer  and  he  attributes  his  success  to  his  mother's  influence 
and  believes  that,  but  for  her  encouragement,  he  should  have  failed. 
He  had  a  triple  handicap  in  the  way  of  his  acquisition  of  a  good  edu- 
cation —  delicate  health,  pecuniary  difficulties,  and  arduous  home  du- 
ties—  and,  except  for  attendance  at  the  district  school,  lasting  only 
until  he  was  thirteen,  his  education  was  acquired  at  home  in  the  even- 
ings. He  entered  upon  no  special  line  of  study,  but  mastered  all 
questions  as  they  came  before  his  notice  and  derived  much  benefit  from 
systematic  reading  of  the  daily  newspapers.  His  favorite  recreation 
was  fishing  and  that  sport  is  still  his  most  enjoyable  one. 

The  necessity  of  doing  a  man's  part  in  "  keeping  the  wolf  from 
the  door  "  when  only  a  young  boy  developed  in  Henry  Chichester  rare 
self-reliance  and  other  qualities  which  have  made  him  a  capable  and 
influential  man  throughout  his  mature  life.  He  has  been  a  successful 
and  prosperous  farmer  and  he  has  given  freely  of  his  time  and  ability 
in  filling  the  many  public  offices  with  which  he  has  been  honored.  He 
is  a  Eepublican  in  politics,  though  he  renounced  partisanship  on  one 
occasion  and  voted  for  Horace  Greeley.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace  for 
twenty  years,  town  clerk  for  twenty-five  years,  selectman  for  seven 

67 


68  HENRY   EDWARDS    CHICHESTER. 

years,  chairman  of  the  Eepublican  County  Committee  for  sixteen 
years,  and  county  auditor  for  four  years.  From  1889  to  1892  he  was 
state  representative.  He  was  one  of  the  two  delegates  appointed  by 
the  state  to  represent  Fairfield  County  at  the  Centennial  Celebration 
in  New  York.  He  has  also  been  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention and  a  member  of  many  important  town  committees.  He  has 
settled  a  number  of  large  estates  and  served  as  conservator,  trustee 
and  guardian  in  cases  too  numerous  to  mention  and  these  commissions 
show  the  esteem  in  which  his  honor  and  ability  are  held  by  individuals 
as  well  as  by  party  and  state.  His  conduct  has  always  been  based  on 
the  principles  he  lays  down  for  others,  which  are,  "  Be  strictly  honest, 
get  all  the  education  possible  and  avoid  all  semblance  of  evil." 

Mr.  Chichester  has  been  married  three  times.  His  first  wife  was 
Anna  Olmstead  and  after  her  death  he  married  her  sister,  Mary  S. 
Olmstead,  by  whom  he  had  one  son  who  survives  his  mother.  On 
April  17th,  1890,  Mr.  Chichester  married  Hannah  Ogden,  and  a  son 
has  been  born  of  this  marriage. 


WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS  COLLINS 

COLLINS,  WILLIAM  AUGUSTUS,  is  a  man  who  has  made 
farming  and  public  service  his  life  work.     His  birth-place 
and  life-long  residence  is  Columbia,  Tolland  County,  Connec- 
ticut, where  he  was  born  August  23d,  1846,  the  son  of  Eufus  and 
Olive  Potter  Collins.     His  father  was  a  farmer  and  a  most  modest 
man  who  refused  all  public  honors,  but  whose  retiring  disposition 
was  balanced  by  firmness  of  opinion.     His  earlier  ancestors  came 
from  England  and  were  men  of  great  strength  of  character  and  suc- 
cessful careers.    Benjamin  Collins,  the  first  of  the  family  to  live  in 
Columbia,  died  in  1759. 

The  early  influences  and  environment  of  Mr.  Collins'  youth 
tended  strongly  toward  the  development  of  industrious  and  worthy 
habits.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  had  plenty  of  hard,  steady 
work  to  do,  for  he  was  the  only  son  of  a  busy  farmer  and  he  was 
strong,  rugged,  and  ambitious.  His  education  was  limited  to  that 
of  the  district  school,  but  it  was  supplemented  by  extensive  and 
intelligent  reading  at  home.  He  was  led  to  literary  habits  by  his 
mother's  influence,  and  from  her,  too,  he  received  his  greatest  stimulus 
to  right  living.  He  read  all  the  available  periodical  literature  and 
school  books  and  was  especially  interested  in  history.  He  held  as 
favorite  books  in  early  life,  "The  National  Preceptor,"  "Rollins' 
Ancient  History,"  and  "  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation/' 
His  first  work  in  life  showed  that  an  ordinary  education  can  be  made 
up  for  by  diligent  study,  for  he  taught  school,  beginning  when  but 
nineteen  and  continuing  at  this  occupation  for  nine  winters.  He 
also  worked  part  of  the  time  at  the  carpenter's  trade,  but  he  was 
obliged  to  be  at  home  more  and  more  as  his  parents  grew  older  and 
after  his  experience  at  school  teaching  he  settled  down  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  family  farm  and  has  made  farming  his  life-work  ever  since. 
Outside  of  the  manifold  duties  and  responsibilities  involved  in 
the  management  of  a  large  and  successful  farm,  Mr.  Collins  has  found 
time  and  heart  for  the  performance  of  many  public  duties.  He  has 

69 


70  WILLIAM   AUGUSTUS   COLLINS 

been  selectman,  town  agent,  assessor,  a  member  of  the  town  school 
board,  and  acting  school  visitor.  From  1879  to  1882  he  was  judge 
of  probate  and  in  1880  and  1881  he  was  a  State  senator.  He  has  also 
served  his  community  as  justice  of  peace  and  as  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Eelief  and  in  1902  he  was  a  member  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention.  He  has  stood  by  the  Eepublican  party  unswervingly  and 
has  been  an  active  member  of  that  political  body  in  his  town.  He 
has  been  as  interested  and  untiring  in  church  work  as  he  has  in  politi- 
cal affairs  and  has  been  a  Sunday  School  teacher  in  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  since  1865  and  a  deacon  since  1876.  He  affiliates  with 
no  social  or  fraternal  order,  except  The  Grange  or  Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry. He  retains  the  physical  vigor  and  energy  that  he  was  so 
blessed  with  in  youth  and  is  interested  in  all  out-of-door  sports,  but 
finds  his  greatest  enjoyment  of  nature  in  viewing  the  grandeur  of  the 
ocean.  His  family  consists  of  five  children,  Evalyn  Sumner,  now 
Mrs.  John  H.  Davis,  Hubert  Potter,  William  Augustus,  Eaymond 
Parker,  and  Jewett  Hutchinson.  Mrs.  Collins,  whose  maiden  name 
was  Florilla  Sumner  Boot,  and  whom  he  married  in  1870,  died  in 
1903.  Of  her  he  says,  "  My  first  impulse  toward  active  public  work 
of  all  kinds  came  from  my  wife,  who  for  more  than  thirty-five  years 
was  the  chief  helper  and  counsellor  of  my  life." 


GEORGE  LOUNSBURY  ROCKWELL 

ROCKWELL,  GEOEGE  LOUNSBURY,  manufacturer,  member 
of  the  firm  of  Lounsbury,  Mathewson  &  Company,  shoe 
manufacturers,  and  at  present  state  representative  from  his 
district,  that  of  Eidgefield,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  was  born 
in  New  Haven,  January  20th,  1869.  He  traces  his  ancestry  to  Richard 
Lounsbury,  who  came  from  England  to  America  in  1634,  and  to  Peter 
Allaire,  a  native  of  Rochelle,  France,  and  the  first  settler  of  New 
Rochelle,  New  York.  Nathan  Rockwell,  Mr.  Rockwell's  great-great- 
grandfather, who  settled  in  South  Salem,  New  York,  was  a  personal 
friend  of  George  Washington,  and  a  prominent  jurist  in  his  day.  Dr. 
Stephen  Rockwell,  his  great-grandfather,  was  the  first  coroner  of 
Westchester  County,  New  York,  and  Captain  Samuel  Lawrence  and 
Enos  Lounsbury,  another  great-grandfather,  were  soldiers  in  the 
Revolution. 

Mr.  Rockwell's  father  was  Joel  Lawrence  Rockwell,  a  manufac- 
turer and  farmer,  a  man  who  was  unselfish,  temperate,  refined,  and 
of  a  good-natured  disposition.  He  was  representative  at  one  time, 
and  gave  his  town  long  and  fruitful  service  in  the  interests  of  edu- 
cation. Mr.  Rockwell's  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Ann  Eliza 
Lounsbury,  was  a  woman  of  great  moral  strength  and  influence. 

Brought  up  in  the  country  on  a  farm  and  endowed  with  excellent 
health,  George  Rockwell  was  as  busy  in  his  boyhood  as  in  later  life. 
He  was  possessed  of  a  great  love  of  adventure  and  took  keen  pleasure 
in  hunting  and  fishing.  He  was  passionately  fond  of  music  and  de- 
voted to  reading.  Tennyson,  Byron,  Stevenson,  and  the  historians 
appealed  to  him  most,  and  had  a  good  influence  upon  him.  He  at- 
tended King's  School  in  Stamford. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  Mr.  Rockwell  began  his  life  work  in  the 
employ  of  Lounsbury,  Mathewson  &  Company,  shoe  manufacturers. 
He  took  this  course  because  it  was  the  wish  of  his  uncle,  the  late 
Hon.  George  E.  Lounsbury,  with  whom  he  had  been  a  constant  com- 
panion from  childhood  till  the  latter's  death  in  1904.  The  influence 

73 


74  GEORGE  LOUNSBUEY  ROCKWELL. 

of  his  uncle  was  always  for  good  in  shaping  Mr.  Rockwell's  life. 
He  continued  with  the  firm,  learning  the  details  of  the  business, 
and  in  due  time  was  taken  into  the  firm,  which  is  one  of  the  best 
known  shoe  manufacturing  establishments  in  New  England. 

His  loyalty  to  the  Republican  party  has  made  Mr.  Eockwell  a 
valued  promoter  of  their  interests.  In  1904  he  was  delegate  to  the 
National  Constitutional  Convention  and  he  is  now  State  representa- 
tive, serving  from  1905  to  1907. 

Fraternally,  he  is  a  member  of  Jerusalem  Lodge,  49,  F.  and  A.  M., 
of  Ridgefield;  of  Eureka  Chapter,  23,  Danbury;  Wooster  Council, 
Crusaders'  Commandery,  Knights-Templar,  Danbury,  and  Pyramid 
Temple,  Bridgeport.  He  is  a  member  and  vestryman  of  St.  Stephen's 
Episcopal  Church,  Ridgefield.  In  addition  to  his  business,  fraternal, 
and  church  interests,  he  is  busied  writing  a  book  of  local  interest  in 
its  incidents  and  characters. 

Although  Mr.  Rockwell's  personal  preference  in  the  choice  of  a 
career  inclined  to  the  legal  profession,  he  has  succeeded  well  as  a 
manufacturer  and  feels  no  dissatisfaction.  For  the  benefit  of  others 
he  advocates  a  "  return  to  Colonial  days  and  the  emulation  of  the  ex- 
ample our  ancestors  set  for  the  youth  of  their  times,  namely,  the  culti- 
vation of  refinement  and  unselfishness  and  respect  for  parents." 


MAYRO  KEENEY 

KEENEY,  MAYEO,  state  senator  from  Somers,  ToUand 
County,  Connecticut,  and  former  manufacturer,  is  at 
present  engaged  in  dairy  farming  when  not  occupied  with 
public  affairs.  He  was  born  in  Manchester,  Connecticut,  July  14th, 
1862,  and  is  the  son  of  Eockwell  and  Lenora  Gowdy  Keeney.  On 
the  paternal  side  he  is  descended  from  Alexander  Keeney,  who  came 
from  England  to  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  before  1667  and  after- 
wards settled  in  Hartford.  Senator  Keeney's  mother  was  a  woman 
of  strong  character  and  noble  influence,  an  ideal  mother  and  woman. 
His  father  became  well  known  for  his  prominence  in  the  woolen  goods 
industry  and  for  his  former  membership  in  the  State  Legislature. 

From  very  early  boyhood  Mayro  Keeney  worked  in  his  father's 
woolen  mill  and  at  thirteen  had  regular  employment  there  outside  of 
school  hours.  He  paid  his  own  board  from  the  time  he  was  thirteen, 
and  at  seventeen  he  left  Wesleyan  Academy  in  Wilbraham,  Massa- 
chusetts, to  give  all  his  time  to  the  woolen  business.  He  entered  the 
Somersville  Manufacturing  Company  at  that  early  age  and  went  from 
one  department  to  another  until  he  attained  thorough  mastery  of  the 
industry  in  all  its  details.  He  was  soon  made  a  superintendent  and 
remained  in  that  capacity  for  nearly  twenty-five  years,  that  is,  until 
1903.  Since  1905  he  has  been  interested  in  dairy  farming,  both  as  a 
business  and  as  a  recreation. 

In  1903  Mayro  Keeney  was  elected  to  represent  Somers  in  the 
State  Legislature  and  he  was  re-elected  in  1905.  During  both  terms 
of  office  he  was  a  member  of  the  finance  committee  and  chairman 
of  the  committee  session  of  1905.  He  is  the  present  senator  from 
the  thirty-fifth  district.  He  has  been  a  life-long  adherent  and  leader 
of  the  Republican  party  and  one  in  whom  his  fellow  partisans  have 
the  utmost  confidence. 

Senator  Keeney  delights  in  athletics  and  all  outdoor  sports  and 
amusements  and  from  1880  to  1885  he  played  on  the  Eockville  base- 
ball nine,  which  was  a  part  of  the  State  League.  He  has  no  Masonic 

75 


76  MAYRO   KEENEY. 

or  fraternal  ties  and  takes  the  Golden  Kule  for  his  creed  rather  than 
the  belief  of  any  particular  religious  body.  Practical  experience 
rather  than  reading  or  study  has  been  his  greatest  help  toward  suc- 
cess. He  believes  that  men  should  "Acquire  many  friends  and  few 
enemies,  always  be  honest,  strong  in  purpose,  and  do  with  the  best 
of  their  ability  whatever  they  undertake." 

Mrs.  Keeney  was  Alice  Billings,  whom  the  Senator  married  De- 
cember 10th,  1885.  They  have  four  children,  two  sons,  Robert  and 
Eockwell,  and  two  daughters,  Grace  and  Alice.  Their  home  is  at 
Somersville  in  the  town  of  Somers,  the  seat  of  Senator  Keeney's  busi- 
ness and  political  interests  since  early  manhood. 


STILES  JUDSON. 

JTJDSON,  STILES,  lawyer  and  state  senator,  was  born  in  Strat- 
ford, Connecticut,  February  13th,  1862,  and  is  a  descendant 
of  William  Judson,  who  came  from  Yorkshire,  England,  to 
Concord,  Massachusetts,  in  1634,  and  four  years  later  became  the 
first  settler  of  the  town  of  Stratford.    Senator  Judson's  parents  were 
Stiles  and  Caroline  E.  Peck  Judson.    His  father  was  a  farmer  who 
held  many  town  offices  in  Stratford  and  represented  the  town  in  the 
General  Assembly  in  the  sessions  of  1880  and  1884. 

Stiles  Judson  was  educated  in  the  public  and  private  schools 
of  Stratford,  and  entered  the  law  department  of  Yale  University  to 
fit  himself  for  the  profession  of  law.  He  graduated  in  1885  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  the  same  year.  He  entered  the  law  office  of 
Townsend  &  Watrous  in  New  Haven  as  a  law  clerk,  and  he  remained 
there  for  one  year.  In  1886  he  opened  a  law  office  in  Bridgeport, 
where  he  has  since  carried  on  his  profession  as  a  member  of  the  law 
firm  of  Canfield  &  Judson. 

In  1891  Mr.  Judson  was  chosen  to  represent  Stratford  in  the 
General  Assembly  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  memorable  "  dead- 
lock "  session.  He  again  represented  his  town  in  the  House  of  Eepre- 
sentatives  in  1895.  He  was  elected  state  senator  from  the  twenty-fifth 
district  in  the  General  Assembly  of  1905  and  was  re-elected  to  the 
Senate  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1907.  While  serving  in  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives  he  was  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of 
both  sessions  and  during  the  session  of  1905  was  a  senate  member  of 
the  same  committee.  He  has  always  been  a  leading  and  loyal  Repub- 
lican. 

From  1880  to  1891  he  was  connected  with  Company  K,  Fourth 
Eegiment,  C.  N.  G.,  and  at  the  time  he  severed  his  connection  with 
the  militia  was  in  command  of  that  company.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
order  of  Masons. 

79 


80  STILES    JUDSON: 

Mr.  Judson  makes  his  home  in  Stratford,  though  Bridgeport  is 
the  center  of  his  professional  work  and  interests.  His  wife  is  Minnie 
Lee  Miles  Judson  of  Milford,  Connecticut,  whom  he  married  Decem- 
ber 5th,  1889. 


ELIJAH  KENT  HUBBARD,  JUNIOR. 

HUBBAKD,  ELIJAH  KENT,  Junior,  manufacturer,  of  Mid- 
dletown,  Middlesex  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Chi- 
cago, Cook  County,  Illinois,  February  5th,  1869.  He  is  des- 
cended from  George  Hubbard,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in 
Hartford  in  1639  and  moved  to  Middletown  in  1650.  Joseph  Hub- 
bard,  son  of  George  Hubbard,  married  a  daughter  of  Noah  Porter,  one 
of  the  early  presidents  of  Yale  College.  Elijah  Hubbard,  Mr.  Hub- 
bard's  great-great-grandfather,  was  Governor  of  Connecticut  in  1771 
and  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  for  twenty  years.  Mr.  Hubbard 
is  also  a  descendant  of  Eoger  Williams,  who  settled  Khode  Island,  and, 
on  his  mother's  side,  of  Elisha  Dyer,  Governor  of  Rhode  Island  for 
two  terms.  Mr.  Hubbard's  father  is  Elijah  Kent  Hubbard,  president 
of  the  Eussell  Manufacturing  Company,  the  largest  concern  for  manu- 
facturing webbing  in  the  world.  He  has  been  presidential  elector 
twice  and  has  declined  many  public  offices.  He  is  a  man  generally 
admired  for  his  sterling  integrity  and  uprightness  of  character  as  well 
as  for  his  prominence  in  the  industrial  life  of  Middletown.  Mr.  Hub- 
bard's  mother  was  Anna  Jones  Dyer,  and,  although  she  died  when  he 
was  but  fifteen,  hers  has  always  been  one  of  the  strongest  influences 
upon  his  character. 

Unlike  many  of  the  men  of  the  day  Mr.  Hubbard  spent  his  youth 
in  a  big  city,  Chicago.  He  was  unusually  active  and  strong  and  de- 
voted to  athletics  of  all  kinds.  He  was  brought  up  to  be  able  to  do 
all  kinds  of  work  in  and  out  of  doors,  and  could  use  all  kinds  of  tools 
and  run  a  steam  engine  before  he  was  eighteen.  He  was  especially 
fond  of  horses  and  learned  to  drive  at  the  age  of  six.  His  reading 
was  as  broad  and  general  in  scope  as  his  capabilities.  He  prepared 
for  college  at  St.  Paul's  School,  New  Hampshire,  and  the  life  there 
was  the  source  of  some  of  the  most  important  formative  influences  of 
his  life.  He  then  entered  Trinity  College,  where  he  was  graduated  in 
1892  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Science.  The  family  had  moved 
to  Middletown  in  1885  and  in  1891  Mr.  Hubbard's  father  had  been 

81 


82  ELIJAH  KENT  HUBBARD,  JR. 

made  president  of  the  company.  It  was  natural  that,  after  leaving 
college,  Mr.  Hubbard  should  enter  the  business  founded  by  his  uncle 
in  1834  and  managed  by  the  Hubbard  family  since  its  incorporation 
at  that  time,  there  having  been  but  two  presidents  during  that  time, 
Mr.  Hubbard's  uncle  and  father.  It  seemed  to  be  equally  natural  for 
him  to  continue  in  the  family  industry  with  such  consistent  success. 
Mr.  Hubbard  has  likewise  confirmed  the  family  reputation  for  activity 
and  breadth  of  interest.  He  is  a  director  in  the  Middletown  National 
Bank,  the  Middlesex  Hospital,  a  vestryman  of  Holy  Trinity  Church, 
president  and  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  of  Middletown 
and  president  of  the  Trinity  College  Athletic  Committee.  In  politics 
Mr.  Hubbard  is  a  Democrat  and  he  has  been  a  councilman  on  the  city 
board  and  was  in  1902  a  candidate  for  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Con- 
necticut. He  has  been  for  some  time  paymaster  of  the  1st  Company 
Governor's  Foot  Guard.  In  January,  1901,  Mr.  Hubbard  married 
Helen  Keep  Otis  of  Chicago.  They  have  one  child. 

Mr.  Hubbard  is  a  member  of  the  many  clubs  and  fraternities,  in- 
cluding the  University  Club  of  New  York,  the  Players  Club  of  New 
York,  the  Hartford  Club,  the  Middletown  Club,  the  Masonic  Club, 
the  Mansfield  Post  G.  A.  E.,  the  college  fraternity,  Psi  Upsilon,  the 
American  Historical  Society,  the  Hartford  Golf  Club  and  the  Ara- 
wana  Club. 


CHARLES  EDWARD  GRAHAM 

GRAHAM,  CHARLES  EDWARD,  surviving  partner  of  James 
Graham  &  Company,  president  of  the  West  Haven  Manu- 
facturing Company,  of  the  Wire  Novelty  Manufacturing 
Company,  vice-president  of  the  Utah  and  Eastern  Copper  Company, 
one  of  the  incorporators  and  treasurer  of  the  Mayo  Radiator  Com- 
pany, and  former  representative  and  state  senator,  was  born  in  Bran- 
ford,  New  Haven  County,  Connecticut,  February  9,  1858.  He  is  de- 
scended from  James  Graham,  Marquis  of  Montrose,  a  noted  Royalist 
who  fought  on  the  side  of  Charles  I.  in  the  first  Civil  War  of  England. 
His  first  ancestors  in  America  emigrated  from  Scotland  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Mr.  Graham's  parents  were  James  and  Maria 
(Foote)  Graham.  His  father  was,  like  himself,  a  brass  founder,  who 
served  his  town  as  selectman,  representative,  and  state  senator.  His 
marked  characteristics  were  integrity  and  generosity. 

Mr.  Graham's  early  life  was  passed  in  the  city,  and  his  education 
was  acquired  at  the  Williston  Seminary  and  Gen.  Russell's  Military 
Academy.  He  wished  to  follow  his  father's  trade  as  a  brass  founder, 
and  was  actuated  from  the  first  by  a  desire  to  be  a  worthy  successor. 
His  father  was  the  original  founder  of  the  old  firm  of  James  Graham 
&  Company,  established  in  1861,  and  honored  for  the  uprightness  of 
its  dealings,  giving  to  Mr.  Graham  a  most  worthy  business  example 
which  he  followed  by  rapidly  making  his  way  to  the  front.  He  organ- 
ized and  was  elected  treasurer  and  president  of  the  West  Haven 
Manufacturing  Company,  makers  of  hardware  specialties.  Aside 
from  that  office  and  the  vice-presidency  of  the  Utah  &  Eastern  Copper 
Company,  the  presidency  of  the  Wire  Novelty  Company,  and  being 
treasurer  of  the  Mayo  Radiator  Company,  he  is  a  director  in  the 
Evening  Leader  Company. 

A  Republican  in  his  political  views,  Mr.  Graham  represented  the 
town  of  Orange  in  the  State  Legislature  in  1897,  when  he  served  on 
the  committee  on  Insurance.  In  1903  he  was  state  senator,  and  dur- 
ing his  term  of  service  he  was  chairman  of  three  committees,  those 

5  85 


86  CHAELES    EDWAED    GRAHAM. 

on  Claims,  Executive  Nominations,  and  Forfeited  Eights,  and  his 
desire  has  aways  been  to  succeed  politically  and  merit  the  confidence 
imposed  in  him. 

Outside  of  his  business  life  Mr.  Graham  has  many  interests.  He 
is  a  thirty-second  degree  Mason,  a  member  of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  a 
member  of  the  Hartford  Club,  Union  League  Club,  and  the  Phoenix 
Club.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  His  favorite 
sport  is  yachting.  On  October  19,  1881,  Mr.  Graham  married  Hattie 
A.  Marsh,  by  whom  he  has  had  one  child,  a  daughter,  Marguerite  M. 


WILLIAM  J.  GROESBECK 

GROESBECK,  WILLIAM  J.,  fanner  and  real  estate  dealer  of 
Vernon,  Tolland  County,  Connecticut,  Civil  War  veteran  and 
a  man  of  prominence  in  the  political  life  of  his  community, 
was  born  in  West  Milton,  Saratoga  County,  New  York,  February  7th, 
1842.  He  is  the  son  of  John  K.  Groesbeck  and  Charity  A.  Groesbeck 
and  his  father  was  a  farmer  and  town  supervisor.  His  earlier  ances- 
tors came  from  Holland  and  settled  in  the  Hoosic  Valley,  Rensselaer 
Count}r,  New  York. 

The  district  and  private  schools  of  a  country  town  furnished  Wil- 
liam Groesbeck's  early  education.  He  was  a  strong,  healthy  boy  and 
a  lover  of  books,  medical  works  being  his  most  interesting  reading. 
Just  as  he  attained  manhood  the  Civil  War  broke  out  and  he  immedi- 
ately gave  his  service.  He  was  hospital  steward  for  eight  months  and 
chief  bugler  of  an  artillery  brigade  the  rest  of  the  time  and  his  service 
lasted  from  1861  until  1865.  Before  the  War  ended,  that  is,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1864,  he  married  Mary  C.  Osborn,  by  whom  he  has  had  five 
children,  all  of  whom  are  now  living. 

Since  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Groesbeck  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  and  the  real  estate  business  in  Vernon,  carrying  on  both  these 
occupations  with  marked  success.  He  is  greatly  interested  in  politics 
and  is  a  Eepublican  of  life-long  standing.  In  1876  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  State  Convention  in  New  York  State  and  in  1900  he  was  a  dele- 
gate to  the  Constitutional  Convention  at  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

He  takes  a  keen  interest  in  public  affairs  in  his  town  and  state,  but 
has  never  sought  public  office.  He  affiliates  with  no  clubs  or  masonic 
orders,  being  a  man  of  simple  habits  and  quiet  domestic  tastes.  He 
is  one  of  those  many  successful  Connecticut  men  who  began  life  as  a 
farmer's  son,  with  small  educational  advantages  and  little  help  in 
making  their  way  beyond  their  own  self-reliance  and  persistence.  At 
the  age  when  it  would  have  been  expedient  for  him  to  start  out  in 
business  he  gave  four  of  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  patriotic  service. 
None  of  these  seeming  obstacles  have  hindered,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
have  strengthened  and  broadened  his  career. 

87 


HENRY  GAY 

GAY,  HENRY,  for  the  past  fifty  years  a  resident  of  Winsted, 
and  well  known  as  a  banker  and  a  former  member  of  the 
State  Legislature,  was  born  in  Salisbury,  Litchfield  County, 
Connecticut,  April  5, 1834.  His  family  is  an  old  one  in  New  England. 
One  of  his  ancestors,  John  Gay,  came  from  England  in  1630,  and  set- 
tled in  Contentment,  now  Dedham,  Massachusetts ;  and  another,  John 
Eeed,  born  in  Cornwall,  England,  who  was  a  young  officer  in  Oliver 
Cromwell's  army,  came  over  after  the  Restoration  to  settle  in  Provi- 
dence, R.  I.  He  later  moved  to  Norwalk,  where  his  name  is  recorded 
in  the  year  1687.  Mr.  Gay's  father,  Henry  Sanford  Gay,  was  a  Con- 
necticut farmer;  his  mother,  Mary  Reed  Gay,  only  child  of  Stephen 
and  Abigail  Kilbourn  Reed,  died  when  he  was  but  three  years  old. 

He  grew  up  under  good  home  influences  and  gave  willing  assist- 
ance in  all  the  work  of  the  farm.  His  early  education  was  received 
at  the  district  school,  and  for  three  terms  he  attended  seminaries  at 
Salisbury  and  Winsted.  But,  as  was  the  case  with  many  boys  of  his 
day,  the  necessity  of  becoming  self-supporting  caused  him  to  end  his 
school  days  at  an  early  age.  When  but  fourteen  he  started  to  work  as 
a  clerk  in  a  country  dry  goods  store.  After  four  years  of  continuous 
service  in  this  position  at  Lakeville,  Connecticut,  he  entered  the  Iron 
Bank  at  Falls  Village.  In  the  banking  business  he  found  his  chosen 
occupation,  and  the  one  in  which  he  was  destined  to  make  his  mark. 
In  1854  he  went  to  Winsted,  and  there  for  the  past  fifty  years  he  has 
been  connected  with  many  prominent  banking  institutions.  During 
this  time  he  has  steadily  prospered  in  business  and  risen  in  the  esteem 
of  his  fellow  citizens.  He  is  now  president  of  the  Hurlbut  National 
Bank  and  of  the  William  L.  Gilbert  Home.  In  addition  to  these  hon- 
orable positions  he  has  held  many  offices  of  trust  in  his  community, 
especially  as  the  executor  of  many  estates.  All  of  these  positions  he 
has  filled  with  credit  and  satisfaction  to  all  concerned. 

Mr.  Gay  is  also  prominent  in  the  political  world.  When,  fifty 
years  ago,  the  Republican  party  was  organized,  he  was  one  of  the  first 


HENKY   GAY.  91 

to  join  it,  and  ever  since  lie  has  been  active  in  its  councils.  He  was 
chosen  six  times  by  his  fellow  citizens  to  represent  the  town  of  Win- 
chester in  the  State  Legislature,  in  1875,  1876,  1877,  1879,  1885,  and 
1889.  During  this  last  term  he  held  the  important  office  of  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  finance,  a  position  for  which  his  extensive  expe- 
rience in  banking  amply  qualified  him.  He  is  today  counted  among 
the  influential  Eepublicans  of  his  district. 

In  1857,  when  barely  twenty-three  years  old,  he  married  Charlotte 
E.,  daughter  of  Deacon  Thomas  and  Emeline  Curtis  Watson.  Their 
only  child,  a  daughter,  is  no  longer  living,  but  they  have  one  grand- 
son, Henry  Gay  Pratt. 

Mr.  Gay's  story  is  one  of  a  man  who  has  had  to  work  hard  for  the 
good  things  of  life,  but  whose  efforts  have  been  well  rewarded.  His 
main  incentive  to  struggle  for  success  was,  first,  the  necessity  of  earn- 
ing a  livelihood,  and  then  the  desire  to  be  in  a  position  where  he 
could  lend  a  helping  hand  in  carrying  the  burdens  of  society;  his 
greatest  encouragement  has  been  derived  from  home  influences  and 
from  association  with  persons  in  active  life.  He  declares  that  it  is 
well  to  commence  enterprises,  carry  them  forward  as  far  as  possible, 
and  leave  them  in  such  shape  that  it  will  be  easy  for  others  who  follow 
to  continue  or  complete  them.  "  Making  rough  ground  smooth,"  as  he 
expresses  it,  has  ever  been  one  of  the  chief  pleasures  of  his  active  life. 
Mr.  Gay  attends  the  Second  Congregational  Church,  of  which  he  has 
been  a  member  for  nearly  fifty  years. 


PHILIP  JULIUS  HANDEL 

HANDEL,  PHILIP  JULIUS,  manufacturer  and  president 
and  treasurer  of  the  Handel  Company  of  Meriden,  New 
Haven  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  that  city  on  July 
8, 1866.  His  grandfather,  Phillip  Adam  Handel,  came  from  Wiirtem- 
berg,  Germany,  in  the  "fifties"  and  settled  in  East  Hartford,  Con- 
necticut. Mr.  Handel's  father,  Jacob  Handel,  was  foreman  of  the 
tinsmith  department  at  the  Charles  Parker  Company  and  a  skilled 
mechanic  of  highest  rank.  He  took  no  part  in  public  life,  but  was  a 
most  home-loving  and  domestic  man.  Mr.  Handel's  mother  was 
Catharine  Handel,  a  woman  whose  strong  and  well-trained  mind 
greatly  influenced  her  son's  intellectual  life. 

As  a  boy  Philip  J.  Handel  was  strong,  rugged,  and  ambitious, 
and  as  his  father  died  when  he  was  but  nine  years  old  he  began  at  a 
very  early  age  to  assist  in  the  family  support.  His  greatest  interest 
was  in  decorative  drawing,  for  which  he  evinced  a  most  promising 
talent,  and  his  favorite  books  were  those  on  decorative  and  archi- 
tectural subjects.  His  schooling  was  confined  to  the  hours  he  could 
spare  from  work.  He  purchased  a  printer's  outfit  and  worked  with 
this  outside  of  school  hours  until  he  was  fourteen,  when,  unknown 
to  his  family,  he  secured  employment  with  the  Meriden  Britannia 
Company  at  boy's  work,  thinking  it  would  afford  him  an  opportunity 
of  learning  a  trade.  After  a  month  he  hired  out  as  an  apprentice 
to  the  Meriden  Flint  Glass  Company,  where  he  served  six  months 
without  remuneration.  He  remained  with  the  glass  company  until 
he  was  nineteen,  when  he  entered  into  partnership  with  Adolph 
Eydam  in  the  business  of  glass  decorating  and  lamp  manufacturing. 
This  partnership  was  the  beginning  of  the  Handel  Company,  of 
which  Mr.  Handel  is  now  president  and  treasurer. 

Mr.  Handel  is  a  member  of  the  Order  of  Masons,  the  A.  0.  U. 
W.,  N.  E.  0.  P.,  the  Home  Club,  and  the  Cosmopolitan  Club  of 
Meriden.  Formerly  a  Democrat  in  political  views  he  is  now  an  inde- 

92 


PHILIP   JULIUS   HANDEL  93 

pendent  voter,  being  always  in  favor  of  the  platform  which  is  most 
protective  to  his  business.  He  is  fond  of  travel  and  generally  com- 
bines business  and  pleasure  in  his  trips  at  home  and  abroad.  In 
1890  Mr.  Handel  married  Carolina  Sutterlin,  who  died  in  1904  after 
a  lingering  illness.  No  children  were  born  of  this  marriage.  On 
October  17th,  1906,  Mr.  Handel  was  married  to  Miss  Fannie  Adelaide 
Hirschfield  of  Meriden,  prominent  in  social  and  musical  circles. 

Personal  bent  and  preference  in  the  choice  of  his  life  work  and 
ambition  have  been  the  forces  that  have  worked  out  Mr.  Handel's 
success  in  the  industrial  world.  He  advises  young  men  to  "pick 
out  vocations  for  which  they  are  fitted  and  stick  to  them  with  a 
tight  grip."  The  motto  which  has  guided  him  in  his  business  career 
has  been  the  well-worn  but  potent  one,  "Soiling  stones  gather  no 
moss." 


NOBLE  EMERSON  PIERCE 

PIEECE,  NOBLE   EMERSON,  lawyer,   former   State  senator 
and  County  treasurer,  one  of  the  strongest  leaders  of  the 
Democratic    party    in    Connecticut,    a   prominent    campaign 
speaker  and  Mason,  as  well  as  a  man  of  extensive  professional  and 
business  interests  in  Bristol  and  Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  born  in 
Bristol,  July  31st,  1854. 

His  first  American  ancestor  was  John  Perss,  who  emigrated  from 
Norwich,  Norfolk  County,  England,  to  this  country  in  the  year  1637, 
bringing  with  him  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  and  four  children.  He  came 
to  New  England  in  either  the  "John  and  Dorothy "  of  Norwich  or 
the  "Rose"  of  Yarmouth.  He  settled  first  at  Woburn,  and  died 
August,  1661,  at  Watertown,  Mass.  The  line  of  descent  is  through 
his  oldest  son,  John,  who  was  born  in  England  and  came  over  with  his 
father  and  lived  in  Boston  and  Woburn,  Massachusetts,  and  Wethers- 
field,  Connecticut.  His  son,  Deacon  John  Pierce  of  Wethersfield,  re- 
moved to  Woodbury,  Connecticut,  where  he  settled  in  that  part  of  the 
town  which  afterwards  was  set  out  as  Southbury,  and  died  there  in 
1731.  The  exact  time  of  his  removal  is  unknown,  but  his  son, 
Sergeant  John,  who  served  in  the  Colonial  militia,  together  with  his 
wife  was  admitted  to  the  church  in  Southbury  in  1726.  Abraham, 
son  of  Sergeant  John  and  great-grandfather  of  Noble  E.  Pierce,  pur- 
chased, in  1797,  the  interesting  old  family  mansion  in  Bristol,  which 
was  a  public  tavern  for  a  number  of  years  after  its  acquisition  by  the 
family,  being  situated  on  one  of  the  old  "  Queen's  Highways."  Mr. 
Pierce  is  the  son  of  Julius  Emerson  Pierce,  a  farmer,  who  was  born  in 
the  family  homestead  and  took  charge  of  the  family  farm  for  his  life 
work,  and  Huldah  Botsford  Pierce,  his  estimable  wife. 

Noble  E.  Pierce  was  born  in  the  ancient  family  mansion  and 
reared  in  his  native  town,  where  he  attended  the  common  schools  for 
a  number  of  years.  He  then  studied  at  the  Connecticut  Literary  In- 
stitute at  Suffield  and  at  the  Connecticut  State  Normal  School  in 
New  Britain,  where  he  was  graduated  in  June,  1873.  Having  thus 

94 


NOBLE  EMERSON   PIERCE.  97 

fitted  himself  for  teaching,  he  put  his  training  to  use  by  two  years' 
experience  as  teacher  in  the  "  Lower  School "  in  Ansonia,  Connecticut, 
and  read  law  with  Judge  V.  Hunger  during  the  same  period.  He 
supplemented  his  legal  study  with  a  course  at  the  Albany  Law  School, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  May,  1876,  and  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  at 
Albany  in  the  same  month. 

Immediately  following  his  admission  to  the  Bar,  Mr.  Pierce  be- 
gan the  practice  of  law  in  Angelica,  N.  Y.,  where  he  remained  for 
two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  returned  to  Connecticut,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  Hartford  County  Bar.  From  1878  to  1893  he  prac- 
ticed his  profession  in  Bristol,  and  since  1893  has  continued  his 
career  as  a  lawyer  in  Hartford,  where  he  maintains  partnership  with 
Marcus  H.  Holcomb  under  the  firm  name  of  Holcomb  &  Pierce. 
Since  1887,  Mr.  Pierce  has  been  a  member  of  the  Bristol  School 
Board.  From  1893  to  1895  he  was  treasurer  of  Hartford  County. 
In  1890  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  State  Senate  from  the 
Fourth  District  and,  receiving  re-election,  served  until  1895.  His 
period  of  office  included  the  memorable  "  dead-lock  session "  of 
1891-92,  and  he  was  the  Democratic  leader  both  at  thaftime  and  dur- 
ing his  later  session. 

In  the  session  of  1893  he  did  very  valuable,  careful,  and  arduous 
work  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on  Cities  and  Boroughs  which 
brought  about  the  General  Street  Eailway  Law  of  1893. 

There  are  many  other  ways  in  which  Ex-Senator  Pierce  is  known 
and  honored  by  his  fellow  citizens.  He  has  been  one  of  Connecticut's 
most  eloquent  and  popular  Democratic  campaign  speakers  and  made 
stump  speeches  in  every  Presidential  campaign  from  1876  to  1894. 
He  is  most  active  and  prominent  in  fraternal  and  Masonic  orders, 
being  a  member  of  Clark  Commandery,  No.  7,  Knights-Templar  of 
Waterbury;  Pequabuck  Chapter,  No.  32,  Koyal  Arch  Masons,  of 
Bristol;  Franklin  Lodge,  No.  56,  F.  and  A.  M.;  Ethan  Lodge,  No.  9, 
Knights  of  Pythias,  and  Bristol  Lodge,  No.  1010,  B.  P.  0.  E.  He 
is  also  president  of  the  Bristol  Club  and  a  director  of  the  Free  Public 
Library  of  Bristol.  He  is  greatly  interested  in  all  town  matters  and 
was  especially  instrumental  in  securing  the  charter  for  the  borough  of 
Bristol  and  in  establishing  the  present  High  School.  He  was  an 
organizer  and  first  president  of  the  Bristol  and  Plainville  Tramway 


08  NOBLE  EMEBSON   PIERCE. 

Company,  formerly  the  Bristol  Electric  Light  Company,  and  is  now 
a  director  and  vice-president  of  that  organization. 

In  July,  1879,  Noble  E.  Pierce  married  Harriet  Kendall  of  An- 
gelica, N.  Y.,  who  died  in  October,  1895,  and  is  survived  by  a  daughter, 
Gertrude,  and  a  son,  Kendall  M.  Pierce. 

In  December,  1897,  Mr.  Pierce  married  Ettie  Merriam,  daughter 
of  Captain  J.  E.  Merriam,  late  of  Washington,  North  Carolina,  who 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  President  Lincoln,  and,  although  a  South- 
erner, on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  allied  himself  with  the  Union 
cause  and  served  with  distinction  in  the  secret  service  during  the 
whole  period  of  the  war.  No  children  have  been  born  of  his  second 
marriage. 


ROBERT  BAIRD  RIGGS 

RIGGS,  EGBERT  BAIRD,  Ph.D.,  professor  of  chemistry  at 
Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  state  chemist  of 
Connecticut,  was  born  in  Hazelwood,  Minnesota,  May  22, 
1855.  He  is  descended  from  Edward  Riggs  who  came  from  Wales  to 
Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  in  1633  and,  on  his  mother's  side,  from 
Richard  Longley  who  came  from  England  to  Lynn,  Massachusetts, 
in  1625.  Professor  Riggs'  parents  were  Stephen  Return  and  Mary 
Ann  Clark  Longley  Riggs.  His  father  was  a  minister  who  was  mis- 
sionary to  the  Dakotas  from  1837  to  1885,  and  was  a  man  of  great 
strength  of  mind  and  unusual  persistence. 

Most  of  Robert  Riggs'  youth  was  spent  in  country  towns  and  vil- 
lages. The  family  were  in  moderate  circumstances  and  he  helped  to 
earn  his  own  education.  After  due  preparation  he  entered  Beloit 
College  in  Wisconsin,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1876.  He  went 
abroad  for  supplementary  study  and  took  his  Ph.D.  degree  at  Got- 
tingen. 

From  1884  to  1887  Professor  Riggs  was  chemist  of  the  United 
States  Geological  Survey.  Since  1890  he  has  been  state  chemist  of 
Connecticut,  and  since  1887  he  has  been  professor  of  chemistry  at 
Trinity  College,  Hartford.  His  scientific  researches  have  been  fruit- 
ful and  interesting,  and  he  has  made  a  particularly  important  study 
of  the  constitution  of  tourmalin.  He  is  a  member  of  the  American 
Chemical  Society,  the  German  Chemical  Society,  and  the  college  fra- 
ternity Beta  Theta  Pi.  His  political  affiliations  are  with  the  Repub- 
lican party,  though  he  deviates  from  the  views  of  that  party  in  regard 
to  tariff.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church.  For  recrea- 
tion he  enjoys  golf  and  is  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  Hartford 
Golf  Club.  Mrs.  Riggs  was  Maida  Sisson  of  Hartford,  whom  he 
married  June  26th,  1895.  Professor  and  Mrs.  Riggs  make  their  home 
at  35  Forest  street,  Hartford.  They  have  no  children. 


99 


FRANK  ELIJAH  ROBINSON 

ROBINSON,  FRANK  ELIJAH,  treasurer  of  the  Jewett  City 
Savings  Bank  and  the  holder  of  a  number  of  local  offices, 
was  born  in  Lisbon,  New  London  County,  Connecticut,  Sep- 
tember 22,  1860.  His  father  was  George  Eobinson,  a  farmer,  who 
served  his  town  as  selectman  and  state  representative  and  whose  most 
conspicuous  qualities  were  Christianity  and  temperance.  Mr.  Eobin- 
son's  mother  was  Sarah  G.  Eobinson,  a  most  worthy  and  high-minded 
woman  who  exerted  a  strong  influence  for  good  upon  her  son's  moral 
and  mental  life. 

In  his  boyhood  days  Frank  Eobinson  was  always  well,  but  he  was 
not  blessed  with  a  rugged  constitution  and  his  work  outside  of  school 
work  consisted  of  the  ordinary  chores  that  fall  to  the  lot  of  a  farmer's 
son.  His  chief  interest  was  in  bookkeeping  and  his  education  was 
carried  on  along  lines  consistent  with  this  youthful  inclination.  He 
attended  Scholfield's  Commercial  College  in  Providence,  Ehode 
Island,  where  he  received  a  diploma  in  bookkeeping  in  1885.  Four 
years  later,  in  September,  1889,  he  married  Alice  E.  Adams,  who  died 
in  1903,  leaving  two  children :  Theodore  A.  and  Marian  A. 

The  first  work  which  Frank  Eobinson  undertook  was  on  his  fa- 
ther's farm  in  Lisbon.  He  continued  at  farming  for  a  number  of 
years  and  then  became  identified  with  the  Jewett  City  Savings  Bank, 
of  which  he  has  been  treasurer  since  February  1,  1895.  In  addition 
to  banking  he  has  been  busied  with  public  interests  and  has  held 
a  number  of  offices,  including  those  of  town  clerk  and  treasurer  and 
clerk  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Lisbon,  of  which  he  is  an  active 
member. 

Mr.  Eobinson  has  few  social  and  fraternal  ties,  but  is  a  member 
of  the  Knights  of  Pythias,  which  order  he  joined  in  January,  1905. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Eepublican,  never  having  varied  his  allegiance  to 
that  party  since  his  first  vote.  He  exemplifies  in  his  business  and 
personal  career  the  type  of  American  "men  of  mark"  who  began 
humbly  on  the  farm  and  have  attained  to  positions  of  trust  in  the 
business  world  through  their  own  ability,  integrity  and  persistence. 

100 


nJ?ezste/L* 

^7 


CALEB  JACKSON  CAMP 

CAMP,  CALEB  JACKSON,  retired  merchant  and  financier  of 
Winsted,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Winchester, 
Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  June  12th,  1815.  His  parents 
were  Samuel  and  Mercy  Sheldon  Camp. 

He  was  reared  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born,  till  he  left  home 
to  engage  in  business  life,  and  received  a  common  school  education 
supplemented  by  a  couple  of  winter  terms  at  the  village  academy, 
after  which,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  began  his  long  mercantile 
career  as  clerk  in  the  general  store  of  Lucius  Clarke  in  Winsted.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  firm,  which  later 
became  that  of  M.  &  C.  J.  Camp.  Under  Mr.  Camp's  able  management 
the  establishment  soon  became  the  largest  and  most  successful  mercan- 
tile house  in  Litchfield  County,  and  such  was  its  reputation  for  honest 
dealing,  progressive  methods,  and  capable  management  that  it  be- 
came a  sort  of  training  school  for  the  mercantile  business,  where 
fathers  were  anxious  to  have  their  sons  learn  the  business  under  Mr. 
Camp's  wise  supervision. 

His  tact  in  dealing  with  men  and  corporations,  his  business  ability 
and  sagacity,  and  his  high  ideals  of  honor  have  brought  to  him  an 
enviable  reputation  throughout  the  community,  and  his  valuable  sug- 
gestions and  advice  have  helped  many  a  young  man  toward  success  in 
life.  For  thirty-five  years  the  firm  owned  and  controlled  the  Union 
Chair  Company  of  Eobertsville.  Through  Mr.  Camp's  planning  the 
firm  built  the  first  brick  business  block  in  Winsted,  which  contained  a 
public  hall  that  for  many  years  was  the  principal  auditorium  in  the 
town.  He  has  ever  been  an  important  factor  in  promoting  the  public 
welfare.  It  was  through  his  leadership  that  stone  sidewalks  were  first 
introduced  into  the  town,  and  his  firm  organized  Winsted's  first  gas 
company.  His  interests  have  not  been  limited,  however,  to  his  own 
community.  In  1874  he  organized  the  Winona  Savings  Bank,  in 
Winona,  Minnesota,  now  a  prosperous  institution,  of  which,  for  up- 
wards of  thirty  years,  he  was  a  trustee.  At  one  time  Mr.  Camp  was 

103 


104  CALEB   JACKSON   CAMP. 

president  of  the  Connecticut  Western  Kailroad  Company,  and  during 
the  time  of  his  administration  of  that  road's  affairs  its  securities  were 
advanced  in  value  nearly  one  hundred  per  cent. 

Mr.  Camp  was  elected  director  of  the  Hurlbut  Bank,  Winsted,  at 
its  organization  in  1857,  which  office  he  has  held  up  to  the  present 
time,  excepting  a  few  years  following  his  resignation,  to  become 
director  in  another  bank.  He  was  one  of  twenty-two  ^corporators 
named  in  the  charter  of  the  Winsted  Savings  Bank,  organized  in 
1860,  and  is  the  only  survivor  of  that  number,  and  has  been  for  about 
thirteen  years. 

Throughout  his  long  life  Mr.  Camp  has  always  adhered  to  the 
principles  advocated  by  the  Eepublican  party,  and  he  has  been  par- 
ticularly zealous  in  the  promoting  of  temperance.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  Congregational  Church,  always  actively  interested  in  its  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  welfare.  He  has  been  a  generous  contributor  to 
its  benevolences,  a  philanthropist  in  the  broadest  and  best  sense  of 
that  term.  He  has  been  a  beneficent  example  to  his  town  in  a  business 
way;  a  model  of  industry  and  public  spirit,  upright  in  character  and 
greatly  esteemed  as  a  man  of  genuine  goodness  and  worth. 

Mr.  Camp  was  married  on  the  22d  of  May,  1839,  to  Mary  Beach, 
daughter  of  the  Eev.  James  Beach,  who  for  thirty-six  years  was  pastor 
of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Winsted.  Their  children  were 
James,  Anna,  Mary  Mehitable,  Augusta,  and  Ellen  Baldwin.  The 
three  last  named  are  living.  Mrs.  Camp  died  December  18th,  1880. 
On  November  1st,  1883,  he  married  Sarah  Boyd,  of  Waldoboro,  Maine. 
Mr.  Camp  has  an  interesting  line  of  Colonial  and  Eevolutionary 
ancestors.  His  grandfather,  Moses  Camp,  served  in  the  Nineteenth 
Continental  Eegiment  (Col.  Webb),  and  as  a  member  of  Captain 
Bostwick's  company  crossed  the  Delaware  at  Trenton  on  the  evening 
of  December  25th,  1776, —  an  historical  event  made  vivid  in  later 
times  by  the  well-known  painting  of  "  Washington  crossing  the  Dela- 
ware." Mr.  Camp's  great-grandfather,  Lieutenant  Samuel  Gaylord, 
served  in  the  Seventh  Connecticut  Eegiment  in  1775,  and  his 
maternal  great-uncle  was  General  Giles  Jackson,  chief  of  staff  to 
General  Gates,  who  wrote  the  terms  of  capitulation  at  the  surrender 
of  Burgoyne.  Elder  John  Strong,  of  Northampton,  was  an  ancestor 
on  both  his  paternal  and  maternal  lines.  His  father's  ancestry  is 
traced  to  Sir  Thomas  Parsons,  and  to  Alderman  Eadcliffe,  of  Lon- 
don, and  his  mother's  to  Sir  Thomas  Stebbins,  baronet 


PHILO  MILES  KELLOGG 

KELLOGG,  PHILO  MILES,  educator  and  farmer,  of  Cornwall, 
Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Kent  (same 
county),  Connecticut,  April  10th,  1851,  and  is  the  son  of 
Theodore  and  Maria  C.  Sturgis  Kellogg.  His  father  was  a  lawyer  and 
farmer  and  a  man  who  held  several  local  offices,  and  his  mother  was 
a  most  admirable  woman  of  whom  he  says,  "  What  I  am  I  owe  to  her." 
Mr.  Kellogg's  earlier  ancestors  came  from  England  to  America  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  His  paternal  great-grandfather,  Judith  Kellogg, 
graduated  from  Yale  College  before  1800  and  was  a  representative 
for  many  years  and  town  clerk  for  thirty  years,  and  his  paternal 
grandfather,  Philo  Kellogg,  was  state  senator  and  the  first  judge  of 
probate  of  Cornwall.  Mr.  Kellogg's  maternal  great-great-grandfather 
was  Gen.  Heman  Swift,  who  served  in  the  Eevolution  with  great 
bravery  and  credit. 

In  youth,  as  in  later  life,  Philo  Kellogg  had  plenty  of  hard  work 
to  do  and  as  he  was  a  healthy  country  boy  this  work  came  naturally 
and  easily.  He  was  fond  of  study  and  reading  and  read  with  especial 
interest  the  biographies  of  such  men  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose 
struggle  against  adverse  circumstances  was  a  constant  stimulus  to  his 
own  striving  for  success.  After  receiving  a  somewhat  limited  common 
school  education  he  began  his  life-work  as  a  school  teacher  in  Corn- 
wall, doing  a  farmer's  work  at  the  same  time.  These  two  occupations, 
teaching  and  farming,  have  been  Mr.  Kellogg's  life  work,  and  have 
been  pursued  with  steady  success  in  Cornwall,  the  home  of  his  entire 
manhood. 

His  keen  and  unselfish  interest  in  town  affairs  has  brought  Mr. 
Kellogg  many  public  honors  and  duties.  In  1886  he  was  a  member 
of  the  General  Assembly,  for  eighteen  years  he  was  town  clerk,  for 
twenty  years  acting  school  visitor,  and  he  has  also  been  grand  juror 
and  justice  of  the  peace.  In  1902  he  was  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention,  representing  the  Democratic  party,  of  which  he  is 
a  most  loyal  and  active  member. 

105 


106  PHILO   MILES   KELLOGG. 

Mr.  Kellogg  has  given  his  life  to  his  business,  home  and  town  in- 
terests and  has  formed  no  social  or  fraternal  ties.  In  1897  he  mar- 
ried Mary  Elizabeth  Chipman.  No  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Kellogg. 


tt/y- 

(7 


DAVID   STRONG 

STRONG,  DAVID,  manufacturer,  ex-member  of  Legislature,  ex- 
warden  of  borough  of  Winsted,  president  of  the  Strong  Manu- 
facturing Company,  The  Winsted  Hosiery  Company,  The  First 
National  Bank  and  director  in  the  New  England  Knitting  Company, 
all  of  Winsted,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  is  a  member  of  the 
English  branch  of  Strongs  and  a  descendant  of  Eichard  Strong,  who 
was  born  in  Wales  in  1561  and  whose  son,  Elder  John  Strong,  came 
on  the  vessel  "John  and  Mary"  in  1630  and  settled  in  Dorchester, 
Massachusetts.  John  Strong  was  prominent  in  the  early  history 
not  only  of  Dorchester,  but  of  Windsor,  Connecticut,  and  later  of 
Northampton,  Massachusetts. 

David  Strong,  another  ancestor,  was  a  commissary  in  the  Kevolu- 
tion  and  Elizabeth  Strong,  the  mother  of  Nathan  Hale,  is  another  of 
Mr.  Strong's  distinguished  ancestors. 

The  present  David  Strong  was  born  in  East  Hampton,  Middlesex 
County,  Connecticut,  August  17th,  1825,  the  son  of  John  C.  A.  Strong 
and  Deborah  L.  Clark  Strong.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  who  was 
town  assessor  at  one  time  and  a  most  honest,  economical  and  industri- 
ous man  of  exceedingly  good  habits. 

David  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  and  learned,  through 
the  performance  of  the  usual  farm  labors,  to  be  thrifty  and  industrious. 
In  laboring  for  the  welfare  of  the  common  home  he  learned  to  love 
home  in  the  truest  way.  His  educational  advantages  were  limited  to 
those  of  the  district  school  and  the  family  library  was  too  meagre  to 
admit  of  any  extensive  supplementary  reading.  At  eighteen  he 
taught  school  and  continued  at  this  work  for  six  years,  during  which 
time  he  spent  the  vacations  at  work  upon  the  farm.  He  afterwards 
worked  in  a  bell  factory  and  as  a  bookseller  and,  in  1856,  he  formed  a 
partnership  with  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  A.  H.  Markham  and 
went  into  the  business  of  silver-plating  bells  for  the  bell  factories  in 
East  Hampton,  Connecticut.  They  soon  added  undertakers'  supplies 
6  109 


110  DAVID    STRONG. 

and  casket  hardware  and  the  business  grew  rapidly  under  the  firm 
of  Markham  &  Strong. 

At  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Strong  and  his  brother,  Clark 
Strong,  enlisted  in  Company  C,  24th  Regiment,  Connecticut  Volun- 
teers, and  served  for  thirteen  months,  nine  of  which  were  spent  in  the 
United  States  service.  Mr.  Strong  became  first  lieutenant  and  took 
part  in  Gen.  Bank's  expedition  in  the  Gulf  Department  and  in  all 
the  forced  marches  from  New  Orleans  to  Port  Hudson.  He  was  in 
command  of  his  company  during  the  siege  of  Port  Hudson.  His 
brother,  Clark  Strong,  was  adjutant  of  the  24th  Eegiment.  David 
Strong  was  wounded  in  the  early  siege  of  Port  Hudson  and  was 
thus  incapacitated  for  further  service.  After  his  term  of  service 
he  resumed  his  charge  of  the  farm  and  interest  in  the  factory  and 
soon  the  firm  opened  up  trade  with  the  undertakers.  In  January, 
1866,  Mr.  Strong  moved  to  Winsted,  where  a  joint  stock  company 
was  formed  which  bought  up  the  old  business.  In  1871  Mr.  Strong 
was  made  president  of  the  Strong  Manufacturing  Company  and 
has  held  this  position  ever  since.  Winsted  is  a  stronghold  of  manu- 
facturing industries  and  the  Strong  Company  is  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  progressive  and  prosperous,  though  it  has  met  with  many 
losses  and  financial  crises.  Its  products  are  the  best  of  their  kind 
and  have  been  used  on  the  coffins  and  at  the  funerals  of  the  most 
prominent  men  of  the  country.  As  president  of  the  Winsted  Hosiery 
Company,  the  Gilbert  High  School,  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Winsted  and  a  director  in  the  New  England  Knitting  Company, 
Mr.  Strong  is  vitally  interested  in  the  industrial,  educational  and 
financial  life  of  his  town. 

A  man  of  great  public  spirit,  David  Strong  has  always  labored  in 
behalf  of  temperance  reform,  law  and  order  and  he  has  held  many 
responsible  public  offices.  He  represented  the  town  of  Winchester 
in  the  General  Assembly  in  1872  and  in  1886,  and  during  those  periods 
served  ably  on  important  committees.  He  has  been  warden  of  the 
borough  of  Winsted  twice  and  selectman  once.  His  political  con- 
victions unite  him  with  the  Republican  party.  He  is  an  active 
member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  in  which  he  has  been  a  deacon 
for  twenty-four  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic.  His  favorite  recreation  is  driving  a  good  horse.  Mr. 


DAVID    STEONQ.  Ill 

Strong  has  been  three  times  married,  in  1852  to  Frances  Augusta 
Daniels,  who  died  in  1856 ;  in  1857  to  Chloe  Maria  Colt,  who  died  in 
1865  and  by  whom  he  had  one  son  who  died  in  infancy.  The  present 
Mrs.  Strong  was  Emerette  L.  Colt,  a  sister  of  Chloe  Maria,  whom  he 
married  in  1866.  Five  sons  have  been  born  to  them,  three  of  whom 
are  now  living.  Frederick  C.,  a  member  of  the  Class  of  1889  of  Yale 
College,  and  vice-president  of  the  Strong  Manufacturing  Company; 
Herbert  Gr.,  a  Yale  graduate,  Class  of  1896,  now  associated  with  the 
Company;  and  Homer  D.,  a  graduate  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology,  Class  of  1903,  at  present  a  chemist  in  New  York  City. 
Mr.  Strong's  advice  is :  "  Use  your  name  cautiously  on  accommo- 
dation papers  outside  your  own  business.  Cultivate  perfect  honesty 
and  clean  habits.  Do  as  you  would  be  done  by  and  success  will  be  a 
satisfaction." 


REV.   STEWART   MEANS 

MEANS,  EEV.  STEWAET,  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  New 
Haven,  author  of  "  St.  Paul  and  the  Ante-Nicene  Church/' 
and  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  scholarly  clergymen  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Steuben- 
ville,  Jefferson  County,  Ohio,  August  4th,  1852.  He  is  the  son  of 
Thomas  Means,  a  lawyer,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Ohio  Senate, 
judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  a  member  of  the  United  States 
Court  of  Claims,  and  a  man  of  marked  literary  tastes  and  a  rare  elo- 
quence of  speech  and  pen,  due  to  his  remarkable  memory,  vivacity, 
and  humor.  Through  him  Mr.  Means  is  the  descendant  of  Scotch- 
Irish  ancestors,  and  through  his  mother,  Ann  Jean  Stewart  Means, 
a  woman  of  superior  character  and  influence,  he  is  of  Scotch-English 
descent. 

It  was  mainly  in  suburban  towns  that  Stewart  Means  spent  his 
early  life.  He  was  a  stalwart  lad  who  loved  out-door  sports,  but  not 
to  the  exclusion  of  wide  reading.  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Kobin- 
son  Crusoe,  Plutarch's  Lives,  and  the  Bible  made  the  deepest 
impression  on  his  mind.  He  confined  himself  to  no  special 
branch  of  literature,  but  enjoyed  poetry,  fiction,  travels,  and 
history  with  the  receptive  eagerness  of  an  open,  alert  mind. 
He  prepared  for  college  at  Milnor  Hall  and  in  1869  he  ma- 
triculated at  Kenyon  College,  where  he  remained  until  the  end  of  his 
Junior  year,  1872.  He  then  entered  Union  Theological  Seminary 
in  New  York  City  and  studied  there  until  1875,  when  he  entered 
Episcopal  Seminary  in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  where  he  received 
his  B.D.  degree  in  1876.  In  1880  Kenyon  College  conferred  upon  him 
the  honorary  degree  of  A.M.,  and  in  1904  he  was  given  the  honorary 
degree  of  D.D.  by  Yale  University  and  by  Trinity  College. 

The  ministry  was  the  deliberate  choice  of  Mr.  Means'  heart  and 
mind  and  the  strongest  influence  upon  his  work  was  the  influence  of 
his  mother's  character.  His  greatest  helps  have  been  the  fruits  of 
private  study  and  his  greatest  inspirations  an  inborn  impulse  to  seek 

112 


STEWART   MEANS.  113 

excellence.  In  1876  Mr.  Means  entered  upon  his  first  active  work  in 
the  ministry  as  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  Bayonne,  New  Jersey, 
where  he  remained  for  two  years.  In  1879  he  was  called  to  his  native 
state  and  became  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Ascension,  Middletown, 
Ohio,  and  he  held  this  parish  two  years.  The  following  year  he  was 
assistant  rector  of  St.  Ann's  Church  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and 
since  1883  he  has  been  rector  of  St.  John's  Church,  New  Haven. 

As  a  parish  worker,  as  a  preacher,  and  as  a  scholar  and  church- 
man Stewart  Means  is  widely  known  and  respected,  and  he  has  been 
well  described  as  "a  clean,  able  gentleman,  a  true  scholar,  and  an 
earnest  servant  of  God."  Outside  of  his  calling  he  has  comparatively 
few  interests  or  ties  besides  those  of  home  life  and  the  duties  of  good 
citizenship.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife,  Katherine  Elizabeth 
Gower  Means,  whom  he  married  in  1837,  and  four  children,  Margaret 
Stewart,  Thomas,  Helen  Gower,  and  Katherine  Glenn.  His  political 
connections  were  with  the  Eepublican  party  until  1884.  He  has  no 
fraternal  ties  except  membership  in  the  Masonic  Order.  He  is  a 
devotee  of  regular  exercise,  both  in  and  out  of  doors,  and  of  late  years 
has  found  fishing  and  bicycling  his  most  enjoyable  recreations. 

The  Eev.  Stewart  Means  is  well  known  among  churchmen  for 
his  book  "  St.  Paul  and  the  Ante-Nicene  Church,"  which  he  published 
in  1903  and  which  embodies  his  keen  and  intelligent  conception  of 
church  history,  his  devotion  to  the  church,  and  his  scholarly  traits  of 
mind  to  a  marked  degree.  His  life  and  work  are  a  constant  example 
and  inspiration  to  the  young  men  who  know  him  and  to  those  and  all 
others  seeking  the  basis  of  true  success,  he  says,  "  Work  hard  and  keep 
at  it." 


ELIAS  WILLIAMS 

WILLIAMS,  ELIAS,  late  citizen  of  Stonington,  New  London 
County,  Connecticut,  a  prominent  farmer,  public  official 
and  a  leader  in  religious  and  philanthropic  movements  in 
his  community,  who  served  his  town  as  state  representative  and  in 
other  capacities,  was  born  in  Stonington,  January  19th,  1830,  and 
died  there  in  1904.  He  was  descended  from  Eoberl;  Williams,  who 
came  on  the  ship  Rose  from  Yarmouth,  England,  to  New  England 
in  1635  and  was  a  member  of  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company  of  Boston.  Captain  Elias  Williams,  grandfather  of  the  late 
Elias  Williams,  was  a  master  mariner  and  seafarer,  while  Joseph  Stan- 
ton  Williams,  Mr.  Williams'  father,  was  a  man  of  great  prominence 
in  Stonington,  who  was  selectman  of  that  town  and  was  reputed  for  his 
mental  and  moral  stability.  Mr.  Williams'  mother  was  Julia  Ann 
Gallup  Williams. 

The  district  schools  of  Stonington  furnished  Mr.  Williams'  edu- 
cation and  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  to  enter  business  he  engaged 
in  the  meat  business,  continuing  in  it  for  five  years.  In  1856  he  went 
to  Canada  to  assume  an  interest  in  the  lumber  business  and  soon  after- 
wards he  spent  several  years  in  the  West.  During  the  Civil  War  he 
was  a  wagon-master  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  went  to  California 
as  a  surveyor.  In  1870  he  returned  East  and  settled  down  in  his 
native  town,  Stonington.  He  engaged  in  farming  on  an  extensive 
scale  and  continued  at  that  occupation  until  his  death,  in  1904. 

In  political  life  Mr.  Williams  was  most  influential  and  prominent. 
In  1880  he  was  state  representative  from  Stonington  and  during  his 
term  of  office  he  served  on  the  military  committee.  In  1896  he  was 
again  elected  state  representative  and  during  this  session  he  served 
on  the  committee  on  constitutional  amendments.  He  was  chairman 
of  the  Republican  town  committee  of  Stonington  for  twenty  years 
and  chairman  of  the  senatorial  committee  for  a  number  of  years. 

Taking  an  interest  in  religious  matters  no  less  strong  than  that  in 
public  affairs,  Mr.  Williams  was  prominent  in  church  matters  and 

114 


ELIAS  WILLIAMS.  115 

was  a  deacon  in  the  Mystic  Congregational  Church  and  one  of  its  most 
generous  supporters.  His  generosity  was  not  narrowed  to  one  field 
of  helpfulness  and,  in  1897,  he  gave  two  acres  of  his  estate  to  the 
Mystic  Industrial  Company,  in  which  he  was  a  director. 

Elias  Williams  was  a  man  who  was  honored  and  respected  for 
his  high  standards  of  honesty  and  morality,  for  his  clean  politics  and 
strict  integrity  as  a  business  man.  He  was  not  only  a  prosperous 
farmer,  a  leader  in  public  affairs  and  a  promoter  of  public  weal,  but 
a  man  of  firm  and  upright  character  on  which  was  built  his  success 
and  from  which  sprang  his  worthy  influence.  Mr.  Williams  is  sur- 
vived by  a  wife,  Sarah  Palmer  Williams,  whom  he  married  in  1885. 


EDWARD  WILLIAMS  MARSH 

MARSH,  EDWARD  WILLIAMS,  banker  and  manufacturer 
of  Bridgeport,  was  born  in  New  Milford,  Litchfield  County, 
Connecticut,  January  24,  1836,  as  the  son  of  Daniel  Marsh 
and  Charlotte  Bliss  Williams  Marsh.     His  father,  a  man  of  marked 
business  and  executive  ability,  was  a  merchant,  banker,  and  farmer; 
director  of  the  Housatonic  Railroad  Company,  president  of  the  First 
National  Bank  of  New  Milford,  and  a  representative  of  his  town 
in  the  State  Legislature.     The  family  are  descendants  of  William 
Marsh  of  Plainfield,  Connecticut. 

Mr.  Marsh  passed  his  early  life  in  the  country,  where  as  a  strong 
boy  he  performed  the  chores  and  other  duties  which  usually  fall  to 
the  lot  of  a  farmer's  son.  In  this  formative  period  of  his  life  he 
received  the  careful  teachings  of  his  mother,  who  made  a  lasting  im- 
pression upon  his  intellectual,  moral,  and  spiritual  life.  As  his  father 
was  a  man  of  means  young  Marsh  was  enabled  to  receive  a  thorough 
education  before  beginning  the  serious  work  of  life.  After  attend- 
ing the  public  school,  he  went  to  the  village  academy,  and  later  to 
Alger  Institute  at  Cornwall,  Connecticut,  leaving  that  institution 
when  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age  to  enter  the  office  of  the  Housatonic 
Railroad  at  the  New  Milford  station,  where  his  father  was  agent. 
After  remaining  in  this  office  for  over  two  years  he  was  employed  for 
a  short  time  in  the  New  Haven  freight  office.  In  1854  he  entered  the 
general  freight  office  of  Bridgeport,  and  later  he  was  employed  for 
seven  years  as  clerk  in  the  old  hardware  store  of  Thomas  Hawley  & 
Company.  In  August,  1862,  when  the  Civil  War  had  assumed  very 
serious  aspects,  he  enlisted  in  the  19th  Regiment  of  Connecticut  Vol- 
unteers, which  afterwards  was  changed  to  the  Second  Regiment  Con- 
necticut Heavy  Artillery.  He  remained  in  the  service  until  the  end 
of  the  War,  returning  to  Connecticut  in  August,  1865.  Before  leaving 
for  the  front  Mr.  Marsh  was  appointed  quartermaster-sergeant  on  the 
non-commissioned  staff  of  his  regiment.  He  was  stationed  for 

116 


EDWAED    WILLIAMS    MAESH.  119 

eighteen  months  near  Alexandria,  Virginia,  then  joined  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  and  later  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah.  With  this  army 
he  took  part  in  the  battles  of  Opequan,  Fisher's  Hill,  and  Cedar 
Creek.  His  regiment  was  then  transferred  to  Petersburg  and  re- 
mained under  General  Grant  until  the  surrender  of  Appomattox. 

Eeturning  to  Connecticut  he  became  engaged  with  the  Spring 
Perch  Company,  remaining  with  it  until  1885,  when  he  moved  to  Fort 
Dodge,  Iowa,  where  he  was  interested  in  the  gypsum  and  plaster  com- 
panies. The  following  year  he  returned  to  Bridgeport  and  became 
treasurer  of  the  People's  Savings  Bank,  a  position  which  he  still 
holds.  He  is  now  vice-president  of  the  Savings  Bank  Association  of 
Connecticut,  vice-president  and  director  of  the  First  National  Bank 
of  Bridgeport,  and  secretary  of  the  Spring  Perch  Company.  He  has 
taken  an  active  part  in  politics,  where  his  associations  have  always 
been  with  the  Kepublican  party.  In  1895  and  1896  he  was  a  member 
of  the  State  House  of  Eepresentatives,  and  in  1900  he  was  a  presiden- 
tial elector,  casting  his  vote  for  McKinley  and  Eoosevelt.  He  has  a 
live  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  community.  He  is  president  of  the 
Bridgeport  Hospital  and  vice-president  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
and  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  State  of  New  York.  He  is  a  Congregation- 
alist  and  deacon  in  the  Second  Congregational  Church,  Bridgeport. 

In  1858  Mr.  Marsh  was  married  to  Amanda  Blanden  of  Burling- 
ton, New  York.  From  this  first  marriage  he  had  one  child,  who  died 
at  the  age  of  four  years.  In  1888  he  was  married  to  Fannie  Forrester 
Hawley.  His  home  in  Bridgeport  is  at  No.  928  Main  Street.  His 
favorite  recreation  is  travelling.  The  story  of  Mr.  Marsh's  life  is  that 
of  a  successful  business  man,  who  has  taken  an  active  part  in  public 
affairs,  and  who  has  always  found  time  to  fulfil  his  duties  to  his  com- 
munity and  to  his  country. 


WILLIAM   WARD   McLANE 

McLANE,  DK.  WILLIAM  WAKD,  A.M.,  D.D.,  PH.D.,  Con- 
gregational clergyman,  pastor  of  Plymouth  Church,  New 
Haven,  and  the  author  of  several  well-known  religious  works, 
was  born  in  Lewisville,  Indiana  County,  Pennsylvania,  November  13th, 
1846,  and  is  the  descendant  of  Scotch-English  ancestors,  who  were  for 
the  most  part  physicians,  merchants,  and  farmers.  On  his  father's  side 
he  is  descended  from  Mordecai  McLane  and  Colonel  John  McDowell, 
both  Scotchmen,  and  on  his  mother's  side  he  is  descended  from  George 
Fisher,  M.D.,  an  Englishman.  His  father,  John  McLane,  was  a 
farmer  by  occupation  and  a  man  widely  respected  for  his  intelligence, 
honesty,  and  piety.  His  wife,  Dr.  McLane's  mother,  was  Julia  Ann 
Fisher  McLane.  Her  influence  was  very  strong  upon  his  life  and  his 
temperament  and  character  are  very  much  like  hers. 

A  fondness  for  reading  and  study  was  one  of  William  McLane's 
chief  traits  in  boyhood,  as  well  as  in  later  life.  He  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm  and  enjoyed  good  health.  His  father's  ill  health  gave  him 
much  responsibility  and  he  was  obliged  to  earn  his  own  college  educa- 
tion. He  prepared  for  college  at  a  high  school  and  a  commercial  col- 
lege and  then  entered  Blackburn  University  of  Illinois,  where  he  took 
his  A.B.  degree  in  1871  and  his  A.M.  degree  in  1874.  In  1874  also 
graduated  from  the  Western  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary,  in 
Alleghany  City,  Pennsylvania,  ranking  first  in  his  class,  and  he  fol- 
lowed this  period  of  study  with  a  post-graduate  course  at  Yale  Uni- 
versity, which  led  to  the  Ph.D.  degree.  Some  years  later,  in  1882, 
his  Alma  Mater,  Blackburn  University,  conferred  upon  him  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  D.D. 

Though  his  first  work  in  life  was  undertaken  in  undergraduate 
days,  when  he  supported  himself  by  teaching,  Dr.  McLane's  first  work 
in  the  ministry,  his  chosen  career,  began  in  May,  1874,  when  he  be- 
came pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brownville,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  remained  four  years,  that  is  until  he  was  called  to  a  church-  in 
Steubensville,  Ohio.  In  1884  he  received  a  call  to  his  present  parish 

120 


WILLIAM   WARD   MCLANE.  121 

—  Plymouth  Church,  New  Haven,  one  of  the  largest,  most  active,  and 
beautiful  churches  of  the  Congregational  denomination  in  this  State 
and  a  fitting  field  for  his  able  and  earnest  ministry. 

Dr.  McLane  is  a  corporate  member  of  the  American  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Ameri- 
can Missionary  Association,  and  a  member  of  the  advisory  committee 
representing  all  the  societies  of  the  Congregational  Churches.  He  is 
also  a  member  of  a  number  of  local  charitable  boards.  He  is  the  author 
of  three  well-k'nown  and  masterful  religious  books  —  "  The  Cross  in 
the  Light  of  Today,"  published  in  1883,  "  Evolution  in  Religion/'  pub- 
lished in  1892,  and  "  Christ's  Conquests,"  a  brochure,  published  in 
1895. 

Dr.  McLane  has  been  twice  married  —  first  to  Alice  Bovard  in 
1875,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  Paul  Bovard  and  John  Fisher.  She 
died  November  8th,  1878.  The  present  Mrs.  McLane  was  Frances 
Robinson,  whom  he  married  November  18th,  1882,  and  by  whom  he 
has  had  three  sons,  Donald  Bradford,  Stanley  Robinson,  and  William 
Chester.  She  is  the  descendant  of  distinguished  Puritan  ancestors. 
He  has  formed  no  fraternal  ties.  His  political  affiliation  has  always 
been  with  the  Republican  party. 

To  young  men  seeking  the  basis  of  success  Dr.  McLane  says,  "  The 
best  thing  is  to  do  to  the  best  of  one's  ability  the  work  of  every  day 
and  to  be  loyal  to  truth  as  one  sees  it  and  to  duty  as  one  knows  it." 


MATHEE,  FKEDERICK  GEEGOEY,  journalist,  editor,  and 
author,  of  Stamford,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  was 
born  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  August  llth,  1844,  the  son  of 
Samuel  Holmes  (LL.D.)  and  Emily  W.  Gregory  Mather.  His  father 
was  the  founder  and  for  a  long  time  the  president  of  the  Society 
for  Savings  in  Cleveland.  Mr.  Mather's  ancestry  is  most  interesting 
and  distinguished  on  both  the  paternal  and  the  maternal  sides.  On 
the  former  he  is  descended  from  Eichard  Mather,  the  first  of  the 
name  to  settle  in  America,  who  came  to  Boston  in  1635.  He  was 
the  father  of  the  early  theologian,  Increase  Mather,  and  the  grand- 
father of  the  equally  renowned  Cotton  Mather.  It  is  through  Eich- 
ard's  youngest  son,  Timothy,  that  the  Mathers  of  the  present  day 
are  descended.  Ozias  Mather  was  a  surgeon  in  the  New  Hampshire 
Troops  in  the  War  of  1812,  and  Eleazer  Mather  was  a  surgeon  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  while  a  still  earlier  paternal  ancestor,  Joseph 
Mather  of  Lyme,  Connecticut,  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  French  and 
Indian  Wars.  Another  paternal  ancestor,  collaterally  related,  was 
Jabez  Brainard,  a  captain  of  Connecticut  troops  in  the  Eevolutionary 
War.  On  his  mother's  side  Mr.  Mather  is  descended  from  Henry 
Gregory,  who  settled  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  late  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  This  same  line  of  Gregorys  is  traceable  to  the  Scot- 
tish Kings  about  the  year  800.  Mr.  Mather's  maternal  ancestors 
of  later  dates  number  Joseph  Gregory,  an  ensign  of  New  York 
troops  in  the  Eevolutionary  War;  John  Ely  of  Saybrook,  Connecti- 
cut, a  distinguished  Eevolutionary  soldier;  and  the  Eev.  Samuel 
G.  Goodrich,  better  known  as  "  Peter  Parley."  In  collateral  maternal 
lineage  Mr.  Mather  traces  his  ancestry  back  to  Charlemagne,  through 
Louis  IV,  Charles  III,  Louis  II,  Charles  II,  and  Louis  I,  all  famous 
kings  of  France. 

In  youth  Frederick  Gregory  Mather  received  a  thorough  education 
and  was  graduated  from  Dartmouth  College  in  1867.  He  spent 
the  following  three  years  studying  law  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  He  de- 

122 


FREDERIC  GREGORY  MATHER.  123 

cided,  however,  to  enter  the  field  of  Journalism  and,  in  1874,  he  be- 
came editor-in-chief  of  the  Binghamton  (N.  Y.)  Republican.  He  re- 
mained in  that  position  until  1879,  and  during  that  time  he  spent 
one  year,  1874-1875,  as  the  special  representative  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education  in  Canada.  In  1879  he  became  editorial 
writer  for  the  Evening  Journal  of  Albany,  New  York,  and  he  con- 
tinued at  this  work  for  one  year,  abandoning  it  in  1880  for  broader 
and  more  general  journalistic  work  as  the  Albany  correspondent  of 
a  number  of  different  newspapers.  In  1893  he  added  to  his  re- 
sponsibilities the  editorship  of  the  Albany  Evening  Journal  Almanac. 
He  maintained  his  Albany  correspondence  work  until  1897,  and  in 
1898  he  edited  and  compiled  "New  York  in  the  Kevolution."  The 
success  of  this  work  led  him  to  devote  his  time  to  independent  and 
more  individual  literary  efforts,  and  in  1901  he  published  a  supple- 
ment to  his  first  work.  Quite  recently,  in  1907,  he  published  his 
interesting  work  "Refugees  from  Long  Island  to  Connecticut  in 
1776."  He  is  also  the  author  of  some  valuable  original  material  re- 
lating to  the  War  of  1812. 

Frederick  Gregory  Mather  has  been  a  prolific  writer  for  journals 
and  over  two  hundred  magazine  articles  have  come  from  his  pen,  the 
earlier  ones  being  illustrated  by  himself.  He  has  written  for  such 
magazines  as  Harper's,  Lippincott's,  the  Scientific  American,  the 
North  American  Review,  the  Popular  Science  Monthly,  Outing,  St. 
Nicholas,  and  many  others.  He  has  written  many  articles  for 
cyclopedias,  including  the  Britannica,  Appleton's,  and  Appleton's 
Biographical  Encyclopedia,  and  has  made  a  number  of  important 
historical,  political  and  genealogical  compilations.  The  latter  in- 
clude a  chapter  in  Gen.  James  Grant  Wilson's  "  Memorial  History  of 
New  York  City"  (1892),  a  chapter  in  "The  Progress  of  the  Em- 
pire State"  (1907),  and  several  chapters  in  "Public  Service  of  the 
State  of  New  York"  (1883). 

Membership  in  the  following  societies  and  organizations  proclaim 
Frederick  Mather's  standing  and  activity  in  intellectual,  journalistic, 
athletic,  social,  and  academic  circles :  —  the  National  Geographical 
Society,  the  American  Copyright  League,  the  Society  of  American 
Authors,  the  Ohio  Society,  the  Albany  Society,  Dartmouth  Alumni 
Association  (all  of  New  York  City) ;  the  American  Canoe  Associa- 
tion, of  which  he  is  treasurer,  the  Historical  Society  of  Stamford, 


124  FREDERIC  GREGORY  MATHER. 

the  Graduate  Association  of  Alpha  Delta  Phi  of  Albany  and  Vicinity, 
the  Dartmouth  Alumni  Association  of  Connecticut,  the  Alpha  Delta 
Phi  fraternity,  the  Fort  Orange  Club  of  Albany,  and  the  Suburban 
and  Yacht  Clubs  of  Stamford. 

In  1871  Mr.  Mather  married  Cornelia  H.  Olcott,  who  died  leaving 
one  daughter,  Cornelia  Helen,  now  the  wife  of  Evans  S.  Kellogg  of 
Schenectady,  New  York.  In  1880  Mr.  Mather  married  his  present 
wife,  Alice  B.  Yager.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mather  make  their  home  at  164 
Fairfield  Avenue,  Stamford,  Connecticut,  though  much  of  his  time 
is  necessarily  spent  at  Albany. 


DANIEL  NASH  MORGAN 

MOEGAN,  DANIEL  NASH,  merchant,  banker,  legislator, 
former  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  was  born  at  Newtown, 
Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  August  18,  18-14.  His  father, 
Ezra  Morgan,  son  of  Hezekiah  and  Elizabeth  (Sanford)  Morgan,  and 
grandson  of  Zedekiah  and  Euth  (Dart)  Morgan,  was  a  merchant, 
farmer,  banker,  and  State  legislator,  a  man  noted  as  being  eminently 
judicious,  prompt,  and  thorough,  and  positively  just.  He  was  a  rep- 
resentative in  the  Connecticut  Legislature  for  three  terms,  justice  of 
the  peace  for  many  years,  and  president  of  the  State  Bank  at  Bethel 
for  an  extended  term  of  years.  His  first  ancestor  in  America  was 
James  Morgan,  who  with  his  brothers  John  and  Miles  Morgan,  native 
of  Llandraff,  Wales,  removed  to  Bristol,  England,  in  1617,  and  sailed 
from  that  port  in  1636  for  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  and  landed  in 
Boston  in  April  of  that  year.  James  Morgan  located  at  Eoxbury, 
where  he  married  Marjory  Hill,  and  in  1650  removed  to  New  London, 
Connecticut  Colony.  His  brother,  Miles  Morgan  (1616-1699),  joined 
the  party  of  William  Pynchon,  who  started  from  Eoxbury  in  May, 
1636,  to  explore  the  western  wilderness,  and  they  founded  Springfield 
on  the  Connecticut  Eiver.  Ezra  Morgan  married  Hannah,  daughter 
of  Daniel  and  Eebecca  (Camp)  Nash,  and  a  descendant  of  John 
Nash,  who  was  the  first  white  male  child  born  in  Norwalk,  his  parents 
having  been  among  the  original  settlers  of  that  town  in  1651,  coming 
from  England  at  an  earlier  date.  Daniel  Nash  (1770-1865),  the 
father  of  Hannah  Nash,  was  a  resident  of  Westport,  and  known  as  a 
sagacious  financier  and  a  remarkably  vigorous  man,  who  walked  forty 
miles,  from  New  York  home,  in  one  day  at  the  age  of  seventy-four, 
and  lived  to  be  ninety-five  years  old. 

Daniel  Nash  Morgan  was  a  healthy  child  and  youth,  never  coming 
under  a  physician's  care  up  to  the  time  he  reached  his  majority.  This 
freedom  from  physical  disease  was  no  doubt  largely  hereditary,  and 
partially  due  to  his  life  in  the  country,  where  he  learned  to  do  all 
kinds  of  farm  work  and  acquired  the  habit  of  constant  activity.  When 

127 


128  DANIEL   NASH   MORGAN. 

not  at  work  on  the  farm  he  was  a  pupil  in  the  public  school,  and  for  a 
season  at  Newtown  Academy.  At  thirteen  years  of  age  he  was  a 
clerk  in  his  father's  store.  His  mother's  influence,  through  precept 
and  example,  administered  unobtrusively,  guided  him  to  a  marked 
degree  in  every  way,  intellectually,  morally,  and  spiritually,  in  spite 
of  a  stormy  will  often  exercised  in  a  rebellious  way  against  this  ever 
powerful  influence.  His  school  training  was  much  interrupted  by 
demands  made  upon  his  skill  as  a  helper  on  the  farm  and  in  the  store, 
but  his  leisure  time  was  given  to  reading  histories  of  nations  and  of 
men.  He  found  great  help  in  acquiring  general  information  in  the 
weekly  political  newspapers,  and  in  later  life  he  pronounced  the 
reading  of  current  news  as  given  in  the  newspapers  one  of  the  most 
powerful  educators  of  youth,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  editor  as 
one  of  the  greatest  assumed  by  man.  His  school  attendance  closed 
when  he  was  sixteen  with  his  graduation  at  the  Bethel  Institute  and 
his  mercantile  apprenticeship  was  kept  up  to  the  date  of  his  reaching 
legal  age.  During  his  minority  he  curbed  his  ambition  in  deference 
to  his  parents'  wishes,  but  on  reaching  his  majority  he  mapped  out 
his  future  plans  for  the  coming  years  and  he  determined  to  obtain 
a  footing  on  the  same  level  with  men  who  were  doing  their  best  to 
make  a  success  of  life,  and  fully  aware  that  there  was  no  royal  road, 
he  aimed  to  do  his  duty  wherever  placed  and  however  situated.  Home 
influence  and  that  exerted  by  his  contact  with  his  fellow  men  were 
potent  factors  in  his  own  success ;  he  always  believing  that  conscien- 
tious, penetrating  thinking  was  invaluable  to  all  seekers  after  true 
success,  at  every  stage  of  life. 

In  1865  he  became  the  proprietor  of  his  father's  general  store 
in  Newtown,  trading  as  D.  N.  Morgan  up  to  1866,  when  it  became 
Morgan  &  Booth  at  Newtown  Centre,  and  in  1869  he  removed  to 
Bridgeport  and  was  junior  partner  in  the  dry  goods  firm  of  Birdsey 
&  Morgan,  the  business  continuing  under  the  firm  name  up  to  1879, 
and  for  one  year  then  in  his  own  name.  He  was  president  of  the 
City  National  Bank  of  Bridgeport  from  January  17th,  1879,  to  May 
26th,  1893,  and  vice-president  and  then  president  of  the  Mechanics' 
and  Farmers'  Savings  Bank  of  Bridgeport  1889-99.  He  meantime 
served  as  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  from 
June  1st,  1893,  to  July  1st,  1897,  under  appointment  of  President 
Cleveland.  His  service  to  his  native  state  and  adopted  city  includes 


DANIEL   NASH   MOEGAN.  129 

the  following  offices:  Member  of  the  common  council  of  Bridgeport, 
1873-74,  member  of  the  board  of  education  1877-78  and  again  from 
1898  to  November,  1904,  mayor  of  Bridgeport  1880  and  1884,  repre- 
sentative in  the  Connecticut  legislature  1883,  state  senator  1885,  1886, 
and  1893,  defeated  Democratic  candidate  for  governor  of  Connecticut 
1898,  and  defeated  candidate  of  his  party  for  United  States  Senator  in 
the  joint  session  of  the  Legislature  of  1899.  His  philanthropic  work 
in  connection  with  the  Bridgeport  Hospital  extended  from  the  time 
of  the  first  subscriptions  to  found  the  institution,  first  as  a  member  of 
the  building  committee,  next  of  the  executive  committee,  then  as  a 
director  from  1884,  and  later  as  vice-president  and  president  from 
1891  of  the  board  of  directors  up  to  his  voluntary  resignation  in  1899, 
at  which  time  he  was  also  treasurer  of  the  institution.  He  was  also  a 
member  of  the  building  committee  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciation and  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  for  several  years.  His 
patriotic  affiliations  include  membership  in  the  Society  of  the  Sons  of 
the  Eevolution  of  Connecticut  and  the  vice-presidency  of  the  society 
from  its  organization.  His  business  affiliations  include  membership  in 
and  the  vice-presidency  of  the  Bridgeport  Board  of  Trade.  His 
fraternal  affiliations  are  with  the  Corinthian  Lodge  as  Worthy  Master 
of  No.  104  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  and  a  member  of  Hamilton 
Commandery,  No.  5,  Knights  Templar,  and  with  the  Pequonnock 
Lodge,  No.  4,  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows  from  1876. 

Mr.  Morgan  was  married  June  10th,  1868,  to  Medora  Hugenen, 
daughter  of  the  late  Hon.  William  A.  and  Marietta  (Beardsley)  Jud- 
son  of  Huntington,  and  of  the  three  children  born  of  this  marriage  two 
are  living  in  1906,  Mrs.  Daniel  Edwards  Brinsmade  and  William  Jud- 
son  Morgan.  Mr.  Morgan  is  affiliated  with  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  and  a  member  of  Trinity  parish,  Bridgeport,  serving  as 
parish  clerk  thirteen  years,  junior  warden  for  a  short  term  and  as 
senior  warden.  He  became  an  enthusiastic  and  discriminating  col- 
lector of  autographs  and  autographic  documents  and  he  has  also 
made  a  very  extensive  collection  of  newspaper  clippings  arranged 
chronologically  and  the  names  and  dates  of  papers  from  which  they 
were  taken  carefully  noted.  This  work  is  his  recreation. 

Speaking  to  young  men  Mr.  Morgan  says :  "  Thoughtf ulness  in 
all  that  the  word  implies,  from  the  earliest  youth  onward;  trying 


130  DANIEL   NASH   MOEGAN. 

to  realize  the  value  of  the  grand  inheritance,  to  be  born,  reared,  and 
to  live  in  such  an  incomparable  country  as  the  United  States  with 
the  unparalleled  advantages  of  this  wonderful  age;  to  prize  and  use 
the  blessings  and  opportunities  of  youth  and  health  which  with  a 
commendable  ambition  and  a  high  purpose  in  life  will  surely  help 
you  win  success." 


LEWIS  SPERRY 

SPERRY,  LEWIS,  senior  member  of  the  widely  known  law  firm 
of  Sperry  &  McLean  of  Hartford,  and  late  member  of  Con- 
gress, ranks  among  the  foremost  in  the  legal  fraternity  of 
Connecticut. 

In  his  veins  there  is  the  blood  of  the  Scotch-Irish  and  the  Welsh 
and  of  the  French  Huguenots.  Richard  Sperry,  one  of  his  paternal 
forbears,  came  to  America  in  1643  as  a  representative  of  the  Earl  of 
Warwick.  The  land  allotted  to  him  in  New  Haven  colony,  in  the 
present  township  of  Woodbridge,  is  still  known  as  Sperry's  Farms. 
Others  of  his  ancestors  were  Deacon  William  Gaylord  and  Matthew 
Grant,  by  whom  Mr.  Sperry  has  kinship  with  some  of  America's 
best  known  families.  Every  war  through  colonial  times  down  to  the 
Civil  War  saw  ancestors  or  relations  of  his  doing  their  duty  for  their 
country. 

Mr.  Sperr/s  only  brother,  Gilbert  Daniel  Sperry,  enlisted  in 
Company  C,  Tenth  Illinois  Cavalry,  at  the  beginning  of  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion,  and  died  in  the  hospital  at  Forsythe,  Mo.,  May  20th, 
1862. 

Daniel  Gilbert  Sperry,  Mr.  Sperry's  father,  resided  in  South 
Windsor,  where  he  followed  the  occupation  of  farmer  and  hotel  keeper. 
His  wife  was  Harriet  Frances  (Pelton)  Sperry.  The  son,  who  was 
born  on  January  23d,  1848,  lived  on  the  farm  until,  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen, he  was  sent  to  New  Haven  to  get  a  little  better  schooling  than 
could  be  had  at  home.  For,  as  he  evinced  a  liking  for  books,  his 
father  was  desirous  that  he  should  receive  a  careful  education.  For 
some  time  he  was  in  the  family  of  Sidney  A.  Thomas  in  New  Haven 
and  attended  his  school.  Subsequently  he  went  to  Monson  Academy, 
in  Monson,  Massachusetts,  an  institution  enjoying  high  repute,  where 
he  completed  his  preparation  for  college,  graduating  in  1869.  Enter- 
ing Amherst  College  that  year,  he  developed  a  special  affinity  for 

131 


132  LEWIS   SPEERY. 

forensics  and  rhetoric  and  had  won  high  honors  before  his  graduation 
with  the  class  of  1873. 

Following  his  college  bent,  he  sought  opportunity  to  prepare  him- 
self for  the  bar.  No  law  firm  in  Connecticut  was  better  known  or 
held  in  higher  esteem  that  that  of  Waldo,  Hubbard  &  Hyde  of  Hart- 
ford, and  it  was  Mr.  Sperr/s  particularly  good  fortune  to  be  enrolled 
there  as  a  student.  Admitted  to  the  bar  in  March,  1875,  he  became 
associated  in  practice  the  following  year  with  George  G.  Sill,  late 
lieutenant-governor  of  the  state,  with  an  office  on  Main  Street.  That 
year  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  where  he  served  on  the  commit- 
tee on  education. 

In  1881  he  was  chosen  to  fill  the  office  of  coroner  of  Hartford 
County,  a  newly  created  position  which  he  did  much  to  develop.  In 
1890  he  was  nominated  by  the  Democratic  party  for  representative 
from  the  First  Connecticut  District  in  Congress.  It  had  been  a 
strongly  Kepublican  district,  but  Mr.  Sperry  carried  it,  and  such  was 
his  record  in  Washington  that  he  was  renominated  and  re-elected 
even  in  a  presidential  year  when  it  was  presumed,  from  past  history, 
that  the  district  would  be  solidly  Eepublican.  Thus  he  served  in 
Congress  continuously  from  1891  to  1895.  As  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittees on  banking  and  currency,  he  occupied  an  influential  position. 
He  was  the  leader  of  those  of  his  party  who  were  opposed  to  the  Wil- 
son tariff  bill. 

On  his  retirement  from  Congress,  the  present  law  firm  of  Sperry 
&  McLean  was  formed,  his  partner  being  George  P.  McLean,  former 
governor  of  the  state.  Mr.  Sperry  has  been  associated  with  a  number 
of  public  enterprises  and  is  now  a  member  of  and  counsel  for  the 
Connecticut  Eiver  Bridge  and  Highway  Commission,  which  is  throw- 
ing across  the  river  at  Hartford  the  largest  stone-arch  bridge  in  the 
world,  with  boulevards  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  In  1902  he  was 
one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Constitutional  Convention. 

His  religious  affiliations  are  with  the  Congregational  Church. 

Mr.  Sperry  married  on  November  7th,  1878,  Elizabeth  Ellsworth 
Wood,  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  William  Wood  of  East  Windsor  Hill, 
a  well-known  naturalist  and  descendant  of  Chief  Justice  Ellsworth 
and  Oliver  Wolcott.  They  had  two  children,  both  of  whom  are  living, 
Ellsworth  and  Mary  E.  Mrs.  Sperry  died  on  August  3d,  1900. 


LEWIS   SPEBBY.  133 

On  April  6th,  1905,  Mr.  Sperry  married  Miss  Carrie  Tryon  Ann- 
bruster  of  Merion,  a  suburb  of  Philadelphia.  Miss  Annbmster  was 
a  member  of  the  celebrated  Potts  family  of  Pennsylvania,  her  grand- 
father, William  F.  Potts,  being  the  founder  of  a  large  iron  firm  in 
Philadelphia,  which  still  continues  in  business. 


FRANCIS  MASON  MANNING 

MANNING,  FEANCIS  MASON,  grain  merchant  and  bank 
president  of  Mystic,  New  London  County,  Connecticut,  was 
born  in  Old  Mystic,  August  21st,  1822,  the  son  of  Dr. 
Mason  Manning  and  Fanny  Hovey  Manning.  His  father  was  a  skill- 
ful physician  and  a  close  student  and  was  beloved  in  his  community 
for  his  sympathetic,  genial  and  modest  nature.  Mr.  Manning's  mother 
died  soon  after  his  birth.  Going  further  back  in  the  study  of  Mr. 
Manning's  ancestry  we  find  it  traceable  to  William  Manning,  a  settler 
of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  previous  to  1638,  and  that  his  grandson, 
Samuel  Manning,  was  a  leading  public  man  and  a  deputy  to  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Massachusetts.  A  later  ancestor,  Luther  Manning,  was 
a  surgeon  in  the  Eevolutionary  army  and  was  also  selectman  and  a 
member  of  the  Legislature. 

The  early  days  of  his  youth  Mr.  Manning  spent  in  the  quaintly 
beautiful  village  of  Mystic  which,  as  it  is  both  country  and  seashore, 
affords  many  attractions  to  a  growing  boy.  He  was  educated  at  the 
Connecticut  Literary  Institute  in  Suffield  and  at  the  academy  at  East 
Greenwich,  Ehode  Island.  He  then  learned  the  trade  of  druggist  and 
established  himself  in  the  drug  business  in  Mystic  in  1846.  He  car- 
ried on  the  drug  business  successfully  until  1880,  when  he  sold  out 
and  became  interested  in  the  grain  business,  which  is  still  his  chief 
personal  business  interest. 

Mr.  Manning  is  president  of  the  Mystic  Eiver  National  Bank,  a 
very  old  and  reliable  institution,  president  of  the  Elm  Grove  Ceme- 
tery Association,  president  of  the  Mystic  Oral  School,  and  a  trustee 
of  the  Mystic  and  Noank  Public  Library.  In  the  mercantile,  finan- 
cial and  educational  life  of  his  town  he  is  a  capable  and  unselfish 
worker  and  leader  and  the  many  responsible  positions  that  he  holds 
in  all  these  walks  of  life  show  the  confidence  with  which  his  fellow  men 
regard  his  integrity  and  ability. 

In  December,  1847,  Mr.  Manning  married  Ann  E.  Williams. 
Their  only  child,  John  L.  Manning,  is  associated  with  his  father  in 
the  grain  business.  The  family  home  is  in  Mystic. 

134 


FREDERICK  ARTHUR  RUGG 

RUGG,  FREDERICK  ARTHUR,  a  prominent  business  man  of 
Seymour,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Hamden,  New  Haven 
County,  Connecticut,  September  10th,  1854.  He  traces  his 
ancestry  back  to  Thomas  Upson  who  came  from  England  about  1635 
and  settled  in  Hartford.  Mr.  Rugg's  parents  were  Harvey  Rugg  and 
Jane  M.  Terrell.  His  father  was  superintendent  of  the  Auger  and  Bit 
Department  of  the  New  Haven  Copper  Company.  He  was  a  self- 
reliant  man,  just,  kind,  frank,  and  generous.  Mr.  Rugg's  mother  was 
a  woman  of  great  strength  of  character  having  a  strong  influence  on 
her  son  both  morally  and  intellectually.  His  early  life  was  passed  in 
a  village.  When  he  was  six  years  old  his  parents  moved  to  Ossining, 
New  York,  where  he  attended  the  private  and  public  schools,  graduat- 
ing from  the  latter  in  1868.  He  was  a  strong,  healthy  boy,  and  his 
great  aim  was  to  become  a  business  man.  In  1870  his  parents  removed 
to  Seymour,  Connecticut,  where  Mr.  Rugg  began  work  as  assistant 
bookkeeper  for  Fred.  L.  Ames,  a  manufacturer  of  augurs  and  bits. 
The  choice  of  occupation  accorded  with  his  own  and  his  parents' 
wishes.  In  1876  Mr.  Rugg  married  Louisa  E.  James.  They  have  one 
child,  a  daughter,  who  is  now  living. 

In  1879  Mr.  Rugg  entered  the  employ  of  the  New  Haven  Copper 
Company,  of  which  he  was  elected  treasurer  in  1895.  He  still  holds 
this  office.  Since  1890  he  has  been  treasurer  of  the  Camp  &  Rugg 
Company.  In  1903  he  became  secretary  of  the  Little  River  Manufac- 
turing Company,  and  he  has  been  a  director  in  the  Ansonia  Telephone 
Company.  He  was  auditor  of  town  accounts  for  several  years  and 
has  been  treasurer  of  the  school  board  of  Seymour  since  1892. 

Mr.  Rugg  is  a  member  of  the  Knights  Templar,  a  thirty-second 
degree  Mason,  and  a  member  of  the  Mystic  Shrine  and  other  fraternal 
orders.  In  politics  he  has  always  been  identified  with  the  Republican 
party.  He  is  a  communicant  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  and 
was  for  several  years  vestryman,  collector,  and  treasurer  of  Trinity 

137 


138  FREDERICK  ARTHUR  RUGG. 

Church,  Seymour.  Mr.  Eugg  has  given  no  special  attention  to  athlet- 
ics. He  finds  his  ideal  recreation  in  travel.  He  considers  contact 
with  men  in  active  life  to  be  the  strongest  influence  upon  his  own 
success  and  places  the  next  value  upon  home  and  private  study. 


EDWARD   HOPKINS   JENKINS 

JENKINS,  EDWAED  HOPKINS,  Ph.D.,  chemist,  director,  and 
treasurer  of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Experiment  Station 
and  resident  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Fal- 
mouth,  Barnstable  County,  Massachusetts,  on  May  31st,  1850.     His 
father  was  John  Jenkins,  a  ship  owner,  fanner  and  bank  president, 
and  at  one  time  state  senator;  his  mother  was  Chloe  Thompson 
Jenkins. 

In  boyhood  Edward  Jenkins  lived  in  a  small  village.  He  was 
fairly  strong  In  body  and  an  active  student,  taking  special  interest  in 
the  study  of  natural  history.  His  preliminary  education  was  acquired 
at  Phillips  Academy  and  his  academic  education  at  Yale  University, 
where  he  took  his  B.A.  degree  in  1872.  He  then  spent  three  years  in 
advanced  study  in  science  at  Yale  and  another  year  at  Leipzig  Uni- 
versity in  Germany,  leading  to  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  in  1876. 

Immediately  upon  the  completion  of  his  studies  in  Germany 
Prof.  Jenkins  returned  to  this  country  and  began  his  professional 
work  as  chemist  in  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  Experiment  Station. 
He  served  in  this  capacity  until  1882,  when  he  became  vice-director 
of  that  institution.  In  1899  he  became  director,  which  office  he  still 
holds  as  well  as  that  of  treasurer,  which  he  has  held  since  1901.  From 
1897  to  1903  he  was  chairman  of  the  State  Sewerage  Commission.  He 
has  given  his  entire  life  to  the  science  of  agricultural  chemistry  and, 
aside  from  membership  in  the  Graduates  Club  of  New  Haven,  of 
which  he  was  president  for  many  years,  his  social  relations  are  solely 
with  associations  concerned  with  that  branch  of  science.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Society  for  Promotion  of  Agricultural  Science,  and  a 
fellow  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 
In  politics  he  is  and  always  has  been  an  adherent  of  the  ^Republican 
party.  He  is  a  trustee  of  the  Connecticut  Agricultural  College.  Per- 
haps he  is  best  known  for  his  brilliance  as  a  speaker  and  lecturer,  for 

139 


140  EDWABD  HOPKINS  JENKINS. 

in  that  way  he  reaches  and  impresses  many  minds  not  otherwise  in 
touch  with  his  scholarly  work  in  science. 

Edward  Hopkins  Jenkins  makes  his  home  in  New  Haven.  His 
wife  is  Elizabeth  Foote  Jenkins,  whom  he  married  June  18th,  1885. 
No  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jenkins. 


CHARLES    GEORGE   ROOT 

ROOT,   CHAELES  GEORGE,   lawyer,   and  president  of  the 
Laurel  Beach  Land  Company  and  of  the  Waterbury  Title 
Company,  a  resident  of  Milford,  was  born  in  Naugatuck, 
New  Haven  County,  Connecticut,  August  13th,  1855.    He  is  the  son 
of  Eeuben  H.  and  Laura  E.  Eoot. 

His  first  American  ancestor  was  John  Eoot,  born  in  Badby,  Eng- 
land, February  26th,  1608,  emigrated  from  there  to  Farmington,  Con- 
necticut, and  died  in  August,  1684.  He  had  eight  children. 

John  Eoot  was  also  an  American  ancestor  of  Elihu  Eoot,  the 
present  secretary  of  state  of  the  United  States. 

Charles  George  Eoot  is  in  the  eighth  generation  and  the  line  of 
descent  is  through  Stephen  Eoot,  who  died  at  Farmington,  Connecti- 
cut, January  6th,  1717,  and  had  five  children:  Timothy  Eoot,  born 
in  Farmington,  Connecticut,  about  1681  and  died  at  Cape  Breton, 
Nova  Scotia,  in  1713 ;  married  Margaret  Seymour,  March  20th,  1707, 
and  had  three  children;  Jonathan  Eoot,  born  in  Farmington,  Con- 
necticut, December  20th,  1707,  and  died  at  Southington,  Connecticut, 
August  17th,  1794.  He  was  married  three  times,  the  first  wife  being 
Euth,  the  second  Esther  Wadsworth,  and  the  third  Susannah  Day. 
He  had  five  children.  Amos  Eoot,  born  in  Southington,  Connecticut, 
1740,  and  died  there  May  llth,  1787.  He  was  married  twice,  the 
first  wife  being  Lydia  Webster,  the  second  Mercy  Barnes ;  he  had  eight 
children.  Eeuben  Eoot,  born  in  Southington,  Connecticut,  April  23d, 
1770,  died  in  New  York  City  about  1800;  married  Hannah  George, 
whose  ancestors  were  Hollanders  and  resided  at  Coxsackie,  N.  Y. ;  he 
had  two  children:  George  Eoot,  born  in  New  York  City  November^ 
1796,  died  in  Waterbury,  September  2d,  1886;  married  twice,  his  first 
wife  being  Susan  Payne,  the  second  Temperance  Bronson;  he  had 
five  children :  Eeuben  H.  and  George  W.  by  the  first  wife  and  Jennie, 
Edward  T.,  and  Harry  D.  by  the  second.  Eeuben  H.  was  born  in 
Waterbury,  Connecticut,  June  6th,  1828,  and  died  in  Waterbury, 
January  8th,  1896.  He  married,  April,  1852,  Laura  E.  Penfield,  who 
was  of  English  descent,  and  had  one  child,  the  subject  of  this  article. 

141 


142  CHARLES  GEORGE  ROOT. 

\ 

The  father  was  a  mechanic  hy  trade  and  a  man  of  great  socia- 
bility and  good  nature,  who  was  also  possessed  of  a  most  excellent 
memory. 

The  son,  Charles  G.  Boot,  was  a  studious  boy,  whose  delight  in 
books  was  the  chief  interest  of  his  early  as  well  as  his  later  life.  His 
boyhood  was  spent  partly  in  a  village  and  partly  in  the  city.  From 
the  time  he  was  fourteen  until  he  was  nineteen  he  was  engaged  as 
assistant  in  a  Waterbury  library,  an  occupation  which  he  found  most 
congenial,  as  it  gave  great  scope  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  taste  for 
reading  and  learning.  At  seventeen  he  began  to  read  the  works  of 
Herbert  Spencer  and  thus  acquired  a  broad  literary  interest  which 
has  never  abated. 

In  1877  he  graduated  from  Yale  Law  School  in  preparation  for 
the  legal  profession,  which  his  recognized  proficiency  in  "Declama- 
tion" in  public  school  has  led  him  to  adopt.  He  has  practiced  law 
continuously  since  that  time  with  constantly  increasing  success  and 
distinction. 

The  chief  interests  in  Mr.  Boot's  life  in  addition  to  his  profession 
have  been  in  politics,  public  services  and  the  business  corporations  of 
which  he  has  been  the  head.  He  was  a  Democrat  until  Bryan's  nom- 
ination. In  1891  he  was  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  House  of  Bep- 
resentatives,  and  in  1893  he  was  state  senator,  during  which  office  he 
took  an  active  and  valuable  part  as  a  member  of  the  prison  committee, 
in  the  purification  and  regeneration  of  the  Connecticut  State  Prison. 
From  1893  to  1897  he  was  deputy  judge  of  the  district  court  of 
Waterbury. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Boot  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Odd  Fellows  and  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.  He  attends  the  Congre- 
gational Church. 

Mrs.  Boot,  whom  he  married  February  2d,  1880,  was  Carrie  M. 
Chapin  of  Bristol,  Connecticut.  Four  children  have  been  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Boot:  Mabel  F.  C.,  born  November  30th,  1880;  Josephine 
L..  born  October  18th,  1882 ;  Beuben  Howard,  born  August  4th,  1887, 
and  Helen  Louise,  born  March  30th,  1896.  Josephine  L.  married 
Frank  N.  Platt  of  Milford,  June  22d,  1904,  and  died  at  Milford, 
November  4th,  1905.  Her  husband  and  infant  son,  Bichard  Nathan, 
survive  her.  The  other  children  are  living. 


BRIGGS,  WARREN  RICHARD,  architect,  was  born  in  Maiden, 
Middlesex  County,  Massachusetts,  June  6,  1850.  His  father, 
Evans  Elijah  Briggs,  son  of  Evans  Briggs,  was  a  machinist  and 
inventor  of  marked  skill  and  ingenuity.  He  married  Mary  Georgianna, 
daughter  of  Richard  and  Mary  (Steinrod)  Smith  of  New  Brunswick. 
His  first  American  ancestor  was  Clement  Briggs,  who  came  to  Ply- 
mouth, Massachusetts,  in  the  "  Fortune  "  in  1621  from  County  Surrey, 
England.  He  was  married  in  Dorchester  in  1631  to  Joan  Allen,  and 
their  children  were  Thomas,  born  1633;  Jonathan,  born  1635 ;  John; 
David,  born  1640,  and  Clement,  born  1643.  The  line  of  descent  is 
through  Ex-Governor  George  Briggs  of  Massachusetts  (1845  to  1851). 

Warren  Richard  Briggs  was  brought  up  in  the  country,  where  he 
enjoyed  outdoor  sports  and  the  study  of  mechanics.  He  was  instructed 
in  private  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston  and  obtained  a  business 
training  in  French's  Business  College  and  a  technical  education  at  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux  Arts,  Paris,  France,  1872-75,  having  previously 
studied  and  practiced  architecture  in  the  offices  of  Cummings  &  Sears 
and  Peabody  &  Stearns  in  Boston,  1869-72.  He  removed  to  Bridge- 
port, Connecticut,  in  1876,  where  he  continues  to  practice  his  pro- 
fession. 

Mr.  Briggs  selected  the  profession  of  architecture  from  his  own 
personal  preference;  traces  his  accomplishment  of  success  in  this 
profession  to  his  school  training  and  the  influence  of  his  fellow  stu- 
dents, aided  by  his  youthful  reading  of  biography  and  history,  which 
information  helped  him  in  his  life  work.  He  is  a  Republican  in 
politics;  is  fond  of  fishing,  hunting,  and  golf,  each  of  which  proves 
agreeable  recreation.  His  professional  affiliations  include:  Fellow- 
ship and  directorship  in  the  American  Institute  of  Architects  and  the 
presidency  of  the  Connecticut  Chapter  of  the  Institute;  treasurer  of 
the  Architectural  League  of  New  York. 

His  social  affiliations  include  membership  in  the  Connecticut  His- 
torical Society,  the  Brooklawn  Country  Club,  the  Seaside  Club,  and 

143 


144  WARREN   RICHARD   BRIGGS. 

the  Seaside  Outing  Club  of  Bridgeport,  and  the  Metabetchouan  Fish- 
ing and  Game  Club  of  Canada.  He  is  a  foreign  member  of  the  Socieie 
Anciens  Eleves  du  Jules  Andre  of  Paris.  He  is  the  author  of  "  Modern 
American  School  Buildings"  (1899),  and  of  numerous  articles  pub- 
lished in  the  technical  journals. 

He  was  married  at  Bridgeport,  February  7,  1882,  to  Eliza  Hawley, 
daughter  of  George  and  Mary  (Edmond)  Beach,  a  descendant  of 
Theophilus  Eaton,  first  governor  of  the  New  Haven  Colony.  Mrs. 
Briggs  is  a  member  of  the  Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution. 
They  live  in  a  beautiful  home  in  Stratford,  Connecticut,  and  have 
two  children :  Marjory  B.  and  Roger  B. 


DAVID   HENRY   MILLER 

MILLER,  DAVID  HENRY,  manufacturer,  banker,  ex-member 
of  Legislature,  military  man  and  the  holder  of  many  public 
offices,  of  Georgetown,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  is  a 
native  of  England,  and  was  born  in  London  on  the  12th  of  August, 
1831. 

His  father  was  Captain  John  Hill  Miller,  a  Londoner,  who  spent 
his  life  in  the  English  army  and  was  captain  of  a  company  stationed 
in  the  West  Indies.  David  H.  Miller's  mother  was  Sarah  Neville 
Miller,  an  English  woman. 

David  H.  Miller  attended  private  schools  in  London  until  he  was 
twelve  years  old,  during  which  time  his  father  died  and  his  mother 
married  again.  After  leaving  private  school  he  worked  in  his  step- 
father's office  in  London  in  the  day-time  and  attended  night  school 
after  office  hours.  He  learned  the  details  of  banking  and  importing 
and  at  fourteen  came  to  New  York  and  became  cashier  in  a  store  there. 

He  later  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  show  cases  in  New 
York  and  in  1851  returned  to  London,  where  he  spent  a  year  learning 
the  curled-hair  business.  He  then  returned  to  New  York  and  estab- 
lished himself  in  that  business  which  he  later  transferred  to  George- 
town, Connecticut,  where  he  has  been  in  business  for  fifty  years, 
during  which  time  he  has  been  active  and  prominent  in  all 
public  affairs.  He  became  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Gilbert  & 
Bennett  Manufacturing  Company,  and  vice-president  of  the  Fairfield 
County  National  Bank  at  Norwalk,  and  still  holds  these  important 
positions. 

A  most  loyal  and  unswerving  Republican,  Mr.  Miller  has  often 
been  chosen  for  public  honors.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
in  1881,  justice  of  peace  for  four  years,  notary  public  for  thirty-six 
years  and  treasurer  of  the  school  district  for  twenty-nine  years.  At 
the  time  of  the  Fremont  Campaign  he  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the 
first  Republican  club  in  Georgetown.  Before  the  Civil  War  he  was  a 
member  of  the  New  York  Washington  Grays,  and  during  the  War  he 

147 


148  DAVID   HENRY    MILLEK. 

was  Major  of  the  23d  Eegiment,  Connecticut  Volunteers,  and  served 
for  thirteen  months.  He  has  also  been  a  Staff  officer  in  the  Putnam 
Phalanx  and  is  a  member  of  the  James  E.  Moore  Post,  No.  18,  G.  A. 
E.,  at  Danbury,  and  a  member  of  the  Army  and  Navy  Club  of  which 
he  was  vice-president  for  three  years.  He  is  also  past  assistant 
general  inspector  of  the  G.  A.  E.  In  addition  to  these  business, 
public  and  military  interests  Major  Miller  has  strong  fraternal  inter- 
ests. He  is  a  member  of  Ark  Lodge,  No.  39,  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  has 
been  its  secretary  for  thirty-four  years,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Order 
of  Knights  Templar,  the  Pyramid  Temple  and  the  Order  of  Mystic 
Shrine.  His  religious  ties  are  with  the  Episcopal  Church.  Part  of 
the  history  of  Eedding  was  written  by  Mr.  Miller. 

On  September  27th,  1855,  Mr.  Miller  married  Catharine  Welling, 
a  native  of  Dublin,  Ireland,  who  came  to  America  in  early  childhood. 
Nine  children,  five  sons  and  four  daughters,  have  been  born  to  them, 
all  of  whom  are  living.  The  eldest  son,  Samuel  J.,  is  vice-president 
and  secretary  of  the  Gilbert  &  Bennett  Manufacturing  Company;  the 
other  children  are:  Mary  C.,  now  Mrs.  Joseph  S.  Gray;  David  H., 
Jr.,  traveling  salesman  for  the  Gilbert  &  Bennett  Manufacturing 
Company;  Katie  W.,  who  remains  at  home;  Louis  P.,  assistant 
superintendent  of  the  Gilbert  &  Bennett  Manufacturing  Company, 
Charles  J.,  manager  of  the  Chicago  Plant;  Sarah  T.,  now  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam H.  Hunter,  who  is  assistant  secretary  of  the  Gilbert  &  Bennett 
Manufacturing  Company,  Julius  W.,  and  Bessie  E.,  who  remain  at 
home. 


ELLIOT  PALMER  SKINNER 

SKINNEE,  ELLIOT  PALMEE,  president  and  treasurer  of  the 
Andover  Creamery  Company,  former  state  representative,  and 
a  man  of  prominence  in  civic  and  political  affairs,  was  born  in 
Vernon,  Tolland  County,  Connecticut,  November  2d,  1831.  His  ances- 
tors came  from  England  and  were  early  settlers  of  Hartford,  Windsor, 
and  Bolton,  Connecticut.  His  great-grandfather  was  Eichard  Skinner 
and  his  grandfather,  Zenas  Skinner,  fought  in  the  Eevolution  under 
General  Putnam.  Elliot  Skinner's  father,  Zenas  Bliss  Skinner,  was 
a  farmer,  a  school  teacher,  and  a  captain  of  militia.  He  was  a  popular 
and  capable  man,  of  decided  opinions  and  firm  principles.  He  died 
when  his  son  Elliot  was  very  young  and  left  his  training  in  the  hands 
of  the  mother,  Anna  Palmer,  a  worthy  woman,  who  taught  her  son  to 
be  industrious,  well-informed,  and  virtuous. 

An  industrious,  outdoor  life  on  a  country  farm  tended  to  make 
the  boy,  Elliot  Skinner,  strong,  self-reliant,  and  ambitious.  He  took 
care  of  the  live  stock  and  performed  many  other  regular  tasks.  His 
education  was  acquired  under  many  difficulties  and  consisted  of 
courses  at  Williston  Seminary  and  Plainfield  Academy.  He  had 
strong  literary  tastes  and  read  biography  and  history  with  especial  ap- 
preciation and  profit.  The  study  of  the  life  of  George  Washington 
was  most  influential  in  shaping  his  ideals  and  ambitions.  He  became 
deeply  interested  in  politics  at  a  very  early  age  and  hated  slavery  and 
all  forms  of  oppression  with  great  intensity.  His  early  political  zeal 
developed  into  staunch  Eepublicanism,  which  has  been  his  life-long 
political  faith. 

Having  decided  upon  teaching  as  the  most  congenial  way  of  earn- 
ing the  means  for  a  professional  career  Elliot  Skinner  became  prin- 
cipal of  the  Franklin  Public  School  in  Eahway,  New  Jersey. 
His  health  soon  broke  down  and  after  an  illness  of  several  years  it 
became  evident  that  he  must  give  up  teaching  for  an  outdoor  occupa- 
tion and  he  became  a  farmer.  He  has  been  engaged  in  agriculture  in 
Andover  ever  since  he  took  up  the  calling  which  his  physical  condi- 
8  149 


150  ELLIOT  PALMER  SKINNEE. 

tion  demanded  and  his  success  as  an  agriculturist  has  been  great.  He 
is  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Andover  Creamery  Company,  an 
agent  of  the  Connecticut  Humane  Society,  has  been  appraiser  of  state 
property,  school  visitor,  and  in  many  other  ways  a  leading  citizen. 
He  was  justice  of  the  peace  for  many  years,  and  in  1881  and  again  in 
1884  he  was  state  representative.  During  his  first  session  in  the 
Legislature  he  served  on  the  finance  committee  and  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  joint  rules,  and  during  his  second  term  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  fisheries.  In  1902  he  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Constitutional  Convention.  He  is  a  Congregationalist,  and  was 
treasurer  of  the  First  Ecclesiastical  Society  of  Andover  for  many 
years.  His  work,  home  life,  and  public  interests  absorb  his  time  and 
thought  to  the  exclusion  of  social  and  fraternal  ties,  and  for  amuse- 
ment he  enjoys  riding  and  driving  rather  than  club  life. 

On  the  ninth  of  October,  1862,  Mr.  Skinner  married  Mary  Delia 
Burnap,  daughter  of  the  late  Daniel  Burnap,  Esq.  No  children  have 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Skinner. 


CHARLES  E.   CHAFFEE 

CHAFFEE,  CHARLES  E.,  manufacturer  and  banker,  president 
and  treasurer  of  the  Medlicott  Company,  manufacturers  of 
wool  goods,  and  a  man  of  prominence  in  town  affairs  in  Wind- 
sor Locks,  Hartford  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Monson,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  June  30th,  1818.  His  family  is  of  Welsh  origin  and  has 
furnished  several  generations  of  prominent  agriculturists  in  New 
England.  Mr.  Chaffee's  grandfather  was  Chadwick  Chaffee,  a  farmer, 
and  his  father,  Freeborn  M.  Chaffee,  was  also  a  farmer  and  a  partici- 
pant in  the  War  of  1812.  Mr.  Chaffee's  mother  was  Betsey  Leonard 
Chaffee, 

After  an  ordinary  district  school  education  Mr.  Chaffee  began  his 
work  in  life  at  seventeen  at  the  humble  task  of  sorting  wool  in  a  mill 
near  his  home.  His  conscientious  mastering  of  this  humble  work 
and  of  all  the  other  stages  in  the  woolen  industry  made  him  what  he 
now  is,  one  of  the  ablest  manufacturers  and  one  of  the  best  judges 
of  wool  in  New  England.  At  twenty  he  left  home  to  take  employ- 
ment in  the  Eockville  mills,  where  he  remained  six  years.  His  close 
and  constant  work  had  so  impaired  his  health  that  he  was  obliged  to 
change  his  occupation  to  one  of  a  more  healthful  nature  and  he  re- 
turned to  his  native  town,  Monson,  and  worked  at  farming  for  the  two 
subsequent  years.  When  he  resumed  his  chosen  employment  it  was  in 
the  Enfield  Stockinet  mill  in  Thompsonville. 

In  1863  Mr.  Chaffee  engaged  in  the  woolen  manufacturing  busi- 
ness in  partnership  with  Mr.  Medlicott  in  a  small  mill  in  Windsor 
Locks  and  went  to  England  to  select  machinery  for  the  equipment  of 
this  new  industry.  Four  years  later  the  business  was  reorganized  into 
a  joint  stock  company  with  Mr.  Chaffee  as  one  of  the  chief  stock- 
holders, though  he  resigned  at  that  time  from  an  active  interest  in  the 
management  and  became  engaged  in  the  tinware  business  for  himself. 
The  Centennial  Year  1876  brought  financial  failure  to  the  Medlicott 
Company  and  Mr.  Chaffee  was  appointed  assignee.  He  got  control 
of  the  stock  and  the  management  of  the  business  and  developed  it 

151 


152  CHAELES   E.    CHAFFEE. 

rapidly  into  a  flourishing,  efficient  and  lucrative  industry.  The 
Company  now  employs  several  hundred  hands,  exports  its  products 
to  all  parts  of  the  United  States  and  has  the  reputation  of  paying 
the  largest  wages  of  any  industry  of  its  kind  in  America.  That  such 
a  business  has  been  rebuilt  and  developed  from  the  ashes  of  a  defunct 
industry  is  a  monumental  tribute  to  Mr.  Chaffee's  sagacity,  indefati- 
gable energy  and  thorough  management.  This  achievement  might 
well  have  occupied  the  lifetime  of  one  man,  but  Mr.  Chaffee  has 
found  time  for  many  other  interests  in  his  long,  fruitful  life. 

Mr.  Chaffee  is  vice-president  of  the  Windsor  Locks  Bank,  presi- 
dent of  the  Windsor  Locks  and  Warehouse  Point  Bridge  and  Ferry 
Company,  director  in  J.  E.  Montgomery  and  Company,  and  was  a  di- 
rector in  the  Mercantile  Bank  in  Hartford.  He  has  been  at  different 
times  selectman  for  four  terms  and  assessor  for  five  years.  He  is  a 
zealous  and  devoted  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  a 
conscientious  and  liberal  philanthropist.  In  his  youth  he  served  for 
some  time  in  the  state  militia  and  he  has  always  maintained  a  lively 
interest  in  all  patriotic  causes.  The  Soldiers'  Memorial  Hall  of 
Windsor  Locks  is  his  gift  to  the  local  post  of  the  Grand  Army  as  a 
memorial  to  the  heroes  of  the  Civil  War. 

In  May,  1839,  Mr.  Chaffee  married  Abilena  Dunbar.  The  three 
children  born  of  this  marriage  died  in  infancy  and  Mr.  Chaffee's  family 
consists  of  one  adopted  daughter.  Their  home  is  at  Windsor  Locks, 
where  Mr.  Chaffee  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-eight  keeps  up  his  lively 
interest  in  business  and  his  faithful  interest  in  the  public  welfare. 


t^f '   >       /p 

'  *  t-(-£f  ft^-is^,  i/^ 


WILLIAM  FRANCIS  JOSEPH 
BOARDMAN 

BOARDMAN,  WILLIAM  FRANCIS  JOSEPH,  genealogist, 
retired  merchant,  and  manufacturer,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
was  born  in  Wethersfield,  Hartford  County,  Connecticut, 
December  12, 1828.  He  traces  his  ancestry  back  through  seven  genera- 
tions to  Samuel  Boreman,  who  came  from  Claydon  near  Banbury, 
Oxfordshire,  England,  and  settled  in  Ipswich  in  1638,  and  in  Wethers- 
field  in  1640.  This  Samuel  Boreman  was  deputy  to  the  General  Court 
for  thirty-four  sessions,  and  was  in  many  other  ways  a  prominent 
colonist,  serving  as  assessor  and  constable  and  in  other  public  capaci- 
ties. In  all  the  intervening  generations  of  descent  from  Samuel  to 
William  F.  J.  Boardman  there  were  men  of  stability  and  prominence. 
The  line  of  descent  is  as  follows :  Samuel  Boreman,  1615-1673 ;  Sam- 
uel Boreman,  1648-1720;  Joseph  Bordman,  1695-1771;  Levi  Bord- 
man,  1739-1782;  Joseph  Simeon  Boardman,  1780-1827;  William 
Boardman,  1805-1887 ;  William  Francis  Joseph  Boardman,  1828- 

Mr.  Boardman's  father  was  William  Boardman,  a  printer,  editor, 
and  publisher  of  books  and  newspapers,  a  manufacturer  of  coffee  and 
spices,  and  head  of  the  firm,  which  carried  on  an  extensive  import 
business.  He  was  a  man  of  exceptional  intelligence,  honesty,  and 
fidelity,  and  these  traits  placed  him  so  high  in  the  esteem  of  his 
fellow  townsmen  that  he  received  many  honors  at  their  hands.  In 
1852  he  represented  Wethersfield  in  the  legislature,  and  in  that  same 
year  he  was  county  commissioner.  He  was  State  Prison  director  and 
held  a  number  of  town  offices. 

Mr.  Boardman's  mother  was  Mary  Francis  Boardman,  a  strongly 
influential  factor  in  his  moral  and  spiritual  development.  On  her 
side  he  traces  his  lineage  to  Robert  Francis,  who  settled  in  Wethers- 
field before  1651.  Her  line  of  descent  was  as  follows :  Robert  Francis, 
1629-1712;  John  Francis,  1658-1711;  John  Francis,  1684-1749; 
John  Francis,  1744-1824;  a  Captain  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution, 
Daniel  Francis,  1770-1837;  Mary  Francis,  1803-1884. 

155 


156  WILLIAM  FRANCIS  JOSEPH  BOAKDMAN. 

Wethersfield  has  been  the  home  of  the  Boardmans  since  the 
founder  of  that  family  in  America  settled  there  in  Colonial  times,  and 
William  F.  J.  Boardman  spent  the  first  twenty-one  years  of  his  life  in 
that  town.  He  attended  the  Wethersfield  Academy  and  graduated 
from  that  institution  in  1846.  He  worked  on  a  farm  in  summer,  and 
studied  in  the  winter  time.  He  was  naturally  a  lover  of  books  and 
found  the  greatest  help  and  pleasure  in  reading  history.  In  October, 
1846,  he  entered  his  father's  coffee  and  spice  manufactory  in  Wethers- 
field, and  four  years  later,  when  the  business  was  moved  to  Hartford, 
he  purchased  a  third  interest  in  the  concern  and  later  assumed  the 
responsibility  of  the  financial  management  of  the  business.  The  firm 
became  William  Boardman  and  Son,  and  in  1853,  when  his  brother, 
Thomas  Jefferson  Boardman,  entered  the  firm,  it  became  William 
Boardman  and  Sons.  In  1888  Mr.  Boardman's  precarious  physical 
condition  necessitated  his  retirement  from  active  connection  with  the 
firm,  which  is  now  and  has  been,  since  1897,  The  William  Boardman 
and  Sons  Company,  Incorporated.  Mr.  Boardman  was  a  responsible 
factor  in  the  development  of  this  large  business  for  forty-two  years, 
and  his  career  as  a  merchant  was  as  successful  and  exemplary  as  it 
was  long. 

Before  leaving  active  business  life  Mr.  Boardman  sought  to  repair 
his  health  by  traveling  abroad,  and  he  visited  England,  Scotland,  and 
France.  Although  he  has  never  fully  regained  his  health,  Mr.  Board- 
man has  had  many  active  interests  in  business  and  genealogical  work 
since  his  retirement  from  the  mercantile  business.  He  has  been  inter- 
ested in  real  estate,  in  owning  and  running  vessels,  and  in  various 
political,  social,  patriotic,  and  intellectual  organizations  to  which  he  be- 
longs. His  office  holding,  however,  belongs  to  the  period  preceding  his 
retirement  from  business.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Common  Council 
in  1863,  an  original  member  of  the  Putnam  Phalanx  in  1859,  and  a 
director  in  the  State  Bank  of  Hartford  in  1861.  He  has  also  been 
interested  in  the  Hartford  and  New  York  Steamboat  Company,  the 
Merrick  Thread  Company  of  Holyoke,  Massachusetts,  and  the  Hudson 
Kiver  Water  Power  and  Paper  Company  of  Mechanicsville,  New  York. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Gold  Democrat  and  in  religious  creed  a  Congrega- 
tionalist.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution, 
the  Sons  of  the  Revolution,  the  Order  of  the  Founders  and  Patriots  of 
America,  and  in  this  society  he  occupies  the  position  of  genealogist, 


WILLIAM  FRANCIS  JOSEPH  BOARDMAN.  157 

of  the  New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society,  of  the  Connecticut 
Historical  Society,  the  Topsfield  Historical  Society  of  Topsfield, 
Massachusetts,  the  Ipswich  Historical  Society  of  Ipswich,  Massachu- 
setts, and  the  Wethersfield  Society  Library. 

It  is  as  a  genealogist  and  antiquarian  that  Mr.  Boardman  finds 
his  chief  interest  and  pleasure  in  his  riper  years,  and  he  has  done  some 
very  valuable  and  important  work  along  these  lines.  He  did  the 
earlier  part  of  the  investigation  for  the  "  Boardman  Genealogy,"  pub- 
lished in  1895,  and  furnished  the  means  for  its  publication.  He  is 
the  author  of  the  "  Francis-Goodrich-Boardman  Genealogy,"  the 
"  Memorial  of  William  Boardman  and  Mary  Francis,"  and  published 
the  "  Wethersfield  Inscriptions."  His  latest  works  are  the  "  Ancestral 
Records  of  William  Francis  Joseph  Boardman  "  and  the  "  Ancestry  of 
Jane  Maria  Greenleaf." 

Mr.  Boardman  married,  January  7,  1852,  Jane  Maria  Greenleaf. 
daughter  of  Dr.  Charles  Greenleaf  and  Electa  Toocker  of  Hartford. 
She  died  August  20,  1899.  They  have  one  son,  William  Greenleaf 
Boardman,  of  Hartford,  born  June  29,  1853,  who  with  his  wife,  Eliza 
Fowler  Eoot,  and  two  children,  Cedric  Eoot  and  Dorothy  Boot,  reside 
at  No.  10  Marshall  Street. 


WILLIAM   BOYD   SPENCER 

SPENCEK,  WILLIAM  BOYD,  president  and  treasurer  of  the 
Bridgeport  Elastic  Fabric  Company,  was  born  in  New  York 
City,  November  5th,  1872.  He  is  the  son  of  Theodore  Parsons 
Spencer,  a  farmer,  and  of  Josephine  Boyd  Spencer,  a  woman  of  great 
piety  who  has  done  much  toward  developing  her  son's  spiritual  nature. 
Through  his  father  Mr.  Spencer  may  trace  his  ancestry  to  the  historic 
John  Alden. 

A  farmer's  boy,  young  William  Spencer  had  plenty  of  the  usual 
farm  tasks  to  perform.  His  youth  was  spent  in  the  country  and 
his  education  was  confined  to  the  most  rudimentary  branches,  and 
was  for  the  most  part  acquired  through  home  study  and  practical 
experience.  He  was  an  omnivorous  reader  and  took  keen  pleasure 
in  reading  biography  and  fiction.  The  Bible  was  his  most  used  book 
and  was  a  constant  source  of  inspiration  and  helpfulness  as  well  as 
a  lasting  educational  benefit. 

The  real  business  of  life  began  for  young  Mr.  Spencer  when  he 
left  the  farm  to  engage  as  clerk  in  a  manufacturing  establishment. 
He  worked  as  clerk  with  the  Bridgeport  Elastic  Web  Company  for 
eleven  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  became  a  clerk  for  the  Union 
Metallic  Cartridge  Company  with  whom  he  remained  for  one  year. 
In  1902  he  became  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Bridgeport  Elastic 
Fabric  Company  which  position  still  engages  his  chief  business 
interest. 

When  the  concern  with  whom  Mr.  Spencer  was  employed  for 
eleven  years  as  a  clerk  was  sold  to  a  combination  and  the  factory 
closed,  he  felt  that  his  years  of  service  there  had  been  quite  largely 
spent  for  naught,  for  the  possibilities  of  securing  employment  in  a 
similar  line  were  very  small.  But  the  door  of  opportunity  opened 
four  years  ago  when  he  decided  to  become  identified  with  the  newly 
formed  Bridgeport  Elastic  Fabric  Company,  at  that  time  a  very 
small  and  struggling  concern,  with  a  capital  investment  of  only  a 
few  thousand  dollars,  an  insignificant  output,  and  its  product  quite 

158 


WILLIAM   BOYD   SPENCER.  159 

unknown  to  the  trade  at  large.  Since  then  the  business  has  developed 
into  one  of  importance  and  strength.  Its  output  now  is  over  two  and 
one-half  million  yards  a  year  of  high  grade  goods;  its  product  is 
distributed  to  all  parts  of  the  country  and  across  the  sea;  the  reputa- 
tion of  its  goods  is  among  the  best;  and  its  standing  in  the  trade 
for  honorable  and  square-dealing  is  second  to  none.  As  president  of 
the  company  Mr.  Spencer  has  had  the  active  management  of  the 
business  in  his  hands,  and  results  have  shown  that  he  has  "  made 
good."  The  eleven  years  of  clerkship,  which  at  one  time  seemed 
to  have  been  spent  without  much  profit,  are  now  looked  back  upon 
with  keen  interest  and  satisfaction  because  they  are  seen  to  have 
been  the  stepping-stones  to  larger  opportunities  and  greater  respon- 
sibilities. 

Mr.  Spencer  is  a  man  of  comparatively  few  ties  and  interests  in 
either  the  business  or  social  world,  preferring  to  concentrate  his  efforts 
upon  one  line  of  business  and  being  content  with  home  life  and 
simple  recreations  instead  of  complicated  fraternal  interests.  He 
prefers  the  reading  of  good  literature  and  out-door  recreations  to 
the  pleasures  of  club  life.  He  is  a  loyal  Eepublican  and  has  served 
on  the  Bridgeport  Board  of  Trade.  He  is  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church  and  is  active  in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work.  His  home  is 
at  127  Sherwood  Avenue,  Bridgeport.  Mrs.  Spencer  was  Anna 
Colfax  Benedict,  whom  he  married  in  September,  1901. 

"  Temperance,  absorbing  work  and  high  ideals "  are  the  essen- 
tials of  true  success  in  life  according  to  Mr.  Spencer's  way  of  think- 
ing. These  very  qualities  coupled  with  natural  ability  have  enabled 
him  to  win  high  position  and  respect  while  still  a  young  man. 


EDWARD   ELIAS   BRADLEY 

BRADLEY,  EDWARD  ELIAS,  manufacturer,  was  born  in  the 
city  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  on  the  fifth  day  of  January, 
1845.  He  is  the  son  of  Isaac  Bradley,  who  was  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  of  carriages,  and  Abigal  Knowles  (  Hervey  )  Bradley. 
His  father  was  noted  in  his  community  for  his  energy  and  honesty. 
General  Bradley  is  at  present  a  resident  in  the  city  of  his  birth,  and 
his  ancestors  were  among  the  original  settlers  of  the  colony  of  New 
Haven.  His  earliest  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Captain  William 
Bradley,  who  was  one  of  a  family  of  that  name  in  the  town  of  Bingley 
on  the  river  Aire  in  the  west  of  Yorkshire,  England.  They  were 
all  Cromwell  people  and  ardent  Dissenters.  William  Bradley  took 
the  oath  of  fidelity  in  the  city  of  New  Haven  in  1644.  General  Brad- 
ley's  father  was  one  of  the  famous  "minute  men"  in  New  Haven 
during  the  war  of  1812,  and  his  great-great-grandfather,  on  his 
mother's  side,  was  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Dibble,  a  missionary  of  the 
Church  of  England,  who  came  to  Stamford,  Connecticut,  in  the 
eighteenth  century  and  was  esteemed  for  his  integrity  of  character 
and  laborious  work  in  the  missionary  field. 

General  Bradley,  as  a  boy,  was  robust  and  healthy.  The  first 
ten  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  city.  He  then  lived  for  five 
years  in  the  country,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  returned  again  to 
the  city.  He  was  particularly  fond  of  reading  and  study,  and  though 
obliged  to  work  on  a  farm  summers  his  tastes  were  those  of  a  student. 
When  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  his  father  died,  and  at  fifteen  he 
was  compelled  to  give  up  school  and  go  to  work. 

He  began  his  active  business  life  in  1860  as  a  shipping  clerk  in 
the  employ  of  the  New  Haven  Wheel  Company.  His  rise  in  the  busi- 
ness to  which  he  has  devoted  most  of  his  life  is  shown  in  the  fact 
that  he  remained  with  the  same  concern  during  nearly  his  entire  busi- 
ness career,  rising  step  by  step  from  his  original  position  to  that  of 
president  and  general  manager.  He  retired  from  active  business 
life  in  1904. 

160 


EDWAED     ELI  AS     BRADLEY.  163 

In  addition  to  his  connection  with  the  New  Haven  Wheel  Com- 
pany, General  Bradley  has  been  the  president  of  the  Boston  Buck- 
board  and  Carriage  Company,  also  of  the  News  Publishing  Company, 
the  Charles  W.  Scranton  Company,  brokers,  of  New  Haven,  the  New 
England  Dairy  Company,  president  of  the  New  Haven  Chamber  of 
Commerce  from  1901  to  1903,  president  of  the  Governor's  Staff 
Association  of  Connecticut,  president  of  the  Defenders'  Monument 
Association,  which  has  in  hand  the  raising  of  funds  for  the  erection 
of  a  defenders'  monument  to  commemorate  the  successful  defence 
at  West  Eiver  made  by  the  citizens  at  the  time  of  the  invasion  of 
New  Haven  by  the  British  in  1779,  vice-president  of  the  Young  Men's 
Institute,  a  director  in  the  New  Haven  County  National  Bank,  a 
director  of  the  Bed  Eiver  Valley  Cattle  Company,  which  owns 
718,000  acres  of  land  in  New  Mexico  and  a  herd  of  over  30,000 
cattle  and  1,000  horses,  and  also  a  director  of  the  New  Haven  Colony 
Historical  Society.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the  House  in  the 
Connecticut  Assembly  during  the  Sessions  of  1882-83,  was  a  member 
of  the  Senate  in  1886,  and  in  the  fall  of  that  year  was  the  Democratic 
party's  candidate  for  Lieutenant  Governor,  receiving  nearly  2000 
more  votes  than  his  leading  opponent,  but  was  not  elected  as  the 
State  Constitution  then  required,  for  election,  a  majority  over  all 
other  candidates  for  the  same  office.  This  threw  the  election  into  the 
General  Assembly,  a  majority  of  which  being  of  a  different  political 
faith,  seated  the  candidate  of  its  party.  He  was  a  Commissioner  of 
Public  Parks  in  New  Haven  from  1888  to  1901.  He  has  also  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  military  life  of  his  native  state,  enlisting  in  the  New 
Haven  Grays  as  a  private  in  1861,  was  elected  their  captain  in  1866, 
holding  that  position  at  the  time  of  the  famous  celebration  of  the  Semi- 
centennial of  the  Company;  colonel  of  the  Second  Regiment  in  1869, 
in  which  capacity,  acting  under  orders  of  the  Adjutant  General  of  the 
state,  he  commanded  the  troops  which  captured  a  large  number  of  New 
York  roughs  who  had  come  to  Charles  Island,  in  the  town  of  Milford, 
to  hold  a  prize  fight;  served  as  Paymaster  General  of  the  Connecticut 
National  Guard  from  1876  to  1878  and  as  Adjutant  General  of  the 
state  forces  from  1893  to  1895.  He  is  president  of  the  New  Haven 
Gray's  Association,  which  includes  all  past  and  present  members  of 
the  Company.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  Haven  Country  Club, 


164  EDWAED    ELI  AS     BRADLEY. 

and  is  otherwise  prominent  socially  in  New  Haven.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  New  York  Army  and  Navy  Club. 

General  Bradley  is  an  Episcopalian  and  is  closely  identified  with 
the  work  of  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church,  of  which  he  is  a  warden. 
He  is  a  trustee  of  the  Episcopal  Academy  of  Connecticut,  founded 
in  1794,  and  located  in  Cheshire,  and  is  also  a  director  of  the  Mission- 
ary Society  of  the  Diocese  of  Connecticut.  In  politics  he  is  a  Demo- 
crat and  voted  the  party  ticket  most  of  his  life,  till  the  silver  issue 
of  1896  compelled  him  to  protest,  and  he  then  joined  the  Gold  Demo- 
cratic wing  of  the  party  and  was  nominated  for  Mayor  by  it.  He 
takes  great  pleasure  in  shooting,  fishing,  walking,  driving  and  boating, 
but  has  never  given  any  special  attention  to  athletics.  From  the 
experiences  he  has  had  in  life,  which  are  those  of  a  self-made  man, 
General  Bradley  believes  that  constant  reliability  (  which  he  says 
includes  energy,  honesty,  good  habits  and  always  keeping  promises  ) 
does  the  most  to  strengthen  the  ideals  of  young  men. 

General  Bradley  was  married  April  26th,  1871,  to  Mary  Elizabeth 
Kimberly,  a  direct  descendant  of  Thomas  Kimberly,  who  came  from 
London,  England,  to  New  Haven  with  the  first  settlers  in  1638.  They 
have  three  children :  Edith  Mary,  Bertha  Kimberly,  now  Mrs.  Edward 
N.  Loomis,  and  Mabel  Louise. 


HOBAET  AUGUSTUS  WARNER 

WARNER,  HOBART  AUGUSTUS,  bank  president,  retired 
manufacturer,  and  prominent  town  official  of  Bristol,  Hart- 
ford County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Thomaston  (same 
county),  May  16th,  1832.  He  is  in  the  eighth  generation  of  descent 
from  John  Warner,  an  early  colonial  settler,  and  also  traces  his  an- 
cestry to  Capt.  James  Warner,  a  Revolutionary  officer.  Mr.  Warner's 
parents  were  Josiah  and  Sophia  Boardman  Warner.  His  father  was 
a  mechanic  by  trade  and  in  character  an  honest,  consistent  Christian, 
and  was  very  temperate  in  habits  and  tastes.  The  mother  was  a 
woman  of  a  deeply  religious  character  and  pure  mind  and  her  influ- 
ence was  particularly  effective  in  her  son's  moral  and  spiritual  develop- 
ment. The  boy  Hobart  was  full  of  vigor  and  ambition,  ready  to  work 
and  eager  in  the  enjoyment  of  all  boy's  sports.  His  education  was  lim- 
ited to  that  afforded  by  the  common  schools  of  his  home  town  and 
was  concluded  when  he  was  but  twelve  years  old.  At  that  early  age 
he  went  to  work  at  farming  for  a  season,  but  afterwards  worked  as  a 
mechanic  and  at  manufacturing. 

The  clock  making  industry  afforded  the  best  and  most  practical 
opportunity  to  a  boy  bred  in  the  town  of  Thomaston  and  it  was 
natural  that  Hobart  Warner,  the  son  of  a  Thomaston  mechanic,  should 
seek  his  first  employment  in  the  Seth  Thomas  Clock  Company.  He 
soon  became  so  skillful  in  his  work  that  he  was  offered  the  position 
of  foreman  of  the  movement  department  of  the  Manross  Brothers 
Company  at  Forestville.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  went  to  Bristol  to 
be  foreman  in  the  S.  E.  Root  Clock  Company,  where  he  remained 
until  his  retirement  from  active  business  life. 

Since  residing  in  Bristol  Mr.  Warner  has  held  many  important 
town  offices,  having  been  selectman  for  a  period  of  six  years  and  at 
various  times  grand  juror,  registrar  of  voters,  assessor,  and  chairman 
of  the  Republican  town  committee.  He  is  now  president  of  the  Bris- 
tol Savings  Bank,  an  office  which  he  has  held  for  the  past  seven  years. 

165 


166  HOBAET  AUGUSTUS  WABNER. 

He  is  a  prominent  Mason  and  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church. 
He  heartily  enjoys  and  advocates  all  sorts  of  outdoor  sports  as  the 
best  means  of  preserving  bodily  vigor  and  fitting  one  for  active  busi- 
ness life. 

Mr.  Warner  is  a  widower  and  his  family  consists  of  two  children. 
Mrs.  Warner  was  Mary  A.  Woodruff  of  Southington,  whom  he  married 
in  1857.  Home  influences  have  always  been  the  strongest  upon  his 
life  and  he  believes  that  the  strongest  of  all  incentives  to  success 
came  to  him  with  the  blessings  and  responsibilities  of  fatherhood. 

The  greatest  regret  and  handicap  in  Mr.  Warner's  career  he  deems 
to  have  been  the  lack  of  a  broader  education.  He  advises  young  men 
to  "  make  the  most  of  your  opportunities  to  secure  an  education.  Be 
sober,  truthful  and  honest.  If  possible  keep  out  of  debt  and  put  some 
of  your  surplus  in  the  savings  bank  each  month.  If  you  cannot  speak 
well  of  a  person  keep  silent." 


ARTHUR  CANFIELD  WHEELER 

WHEELER,  ARTHUR  CANFIELD,  manufacturer,  bank 
director,  ex-mayor,  and  prominent  Mason  of  Norwalk, 
Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  was  born,  brought  up  and 
educated  in  that  town  and  has  made  it  the  center  of  his  business  and 
civic  and  personal  interests  through  his  mature  life.  His  ancestors 
came  from  Wales  to  America  in  Colonial  times  and  his  parents  were 
Charles  H.  and  Anna  Eliza  Canfield  Wheeler.  His  father  was  a 
teacher  and  served  his  town  as  selectman  and  a  member  of  the  school 
board.  The  mother  was  a  woman  of  high  ideals  which  greatly  in- 
fluenced her  son's  moral  life  and  attitude.  He  was  born  August  26th, 
1856,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  old  enough  he  attended  the  public  schools 
of  Norwalk,  which  furnished  his  only  education.  He  read  a  great 
deal  and  found  biographies  the  most  interesting  literature. 

At  fourteen  Arthur  C.  Wheeler  went  to  work  in  the  office  of  a 
straw  hat  factory  in  Norwalk  and  received  gradual  promotions  in  that 
industry  until,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  he  became  proprietor  of  a 
large  concern  for  the  manufacture  of  straw  hats.  The  company  with 
which  he  started  out  in  1870  as  office  boy  was  known  as  John  P. 
Beatty  and  Brothers.  The  Enterprise  factory  now  on  Butler  Street 
is  owned  and  managed  by  A.  C.  Wheeler.  Mr.  Wheeler  is  also  a 
director  in  the  National  Bank  of  Norwalk,  in  the  Fairfield  County 
Savings  Bank,  the  Hour  Publishing  Company,  and  the  Norwalk 
Hospital.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics  and  in  1895  and  1896  he 
was  mayor  of  the  city  of  Norwalk.  He  has  served  as  a  member  of 
the  city  school  board  for  many  terms  and  as  acting  school  visitor  for 
eight  years.  In  1902  he  was  made  Grand  Master  of  Masons  and  he  is 
Grand  Patriarch  of  the  I.  0.  0.  F.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Norwalk 
Club,  the  Knob  Outing  Club  of  Norwalk,  and  of  the  Algonquin  Club 
of  Bridgeport.  Baseball,  tennis,  and  walking  engage  his  active  in- 
terest and  afford  his  chief  recreations.  He  unites  with  the  Episcopal 
Church  in  creed  and  religious  activity.  He  believes  that  hard  work, 

167 


168  ARTHUR    CANFIELD    WHEELER. 

determination,  high  moral  standards  and  high  ideals  in  general,  to- 
gether with  the  cultivation  of  a  cheerful  disposition  are  the  surest 
stepping  stones  to  success.  His  own  hard  work  began  in  childhood 
and  his  cultivation  of  these  other  qualities  has  brought  success  that 
not  only  came  correspondingly  early,  but  is  of  great  measure. 

In  June,  1880,  Mr.  Wheeler  married  Susie  Cousins,  who  became 
the  mother  of  two  sons,  one,  Earnest  Cousins,  now  a  Senior  at  Yale, 
and  the  younger,  Harold  Arthur,  a  student  at  the  Norwalk  High 
School. 


SAMUEL  JOSHUA  BRYANT 

BEYANT,    SAMUEL    JOSHUA,    Congregational    clergyman, 
business  man,  lawyer,  and  jurist,  was  born  in  West  Stock- 
bridge,  Berkshire  County,  Massachusetts,  June  26th,  1851. 
His  father,  Sidney  Bryant,  was  a  minister  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  a  man  noted  for  guilelessness  and  the  possessor  of  a  sunny 
temperament.     He  married  Harriet  Warner,  daughter  of  Joshua  and 
Mary  Douglass  Lord  of  Canaan,  New  York,  and  the  son  inherited 
the  English  blood  of  the  Bryants  and  the  Scottish  blood  of  the 
Douglas  clan. 

Samuel  Joshua  Bryant  was  a  robust  child,  fond  of  anything  in  the 
line  of  sport,  was  taught  industry  through  hard  work  on  a  farm  when 
thirteen  and  fourteen  years  of  age  and  his  experiences  of  plowing 
with  a  double  team  and  of  "  sugaring  off,"  in  the  woods  in  early 
spring,  alone,  constituted  the  chief  retrospective  incidents  of  his  life 
that  in  later  years  he  recounts  with  pride.  His  mother,  the  oldest  of 
ten  children,  whose  father  was  a  very  prominent  and  Godly  man,  and 
whose  mother  was  a  Douglas,  was  by  inheritance  and  training  a 
strong  personality  and  stamped  her  character  on  the  son,  and  in  a 
measure  subdued  his  inordinate  love  for  play,  so  as  not  to  prevent  his 
pursuing  his  daily  tasks  at  school.  Although  wealth  was  never  pres- 
ent in  his  boyhood  home  he  received  the  training  and  culture  that  the 
country  parsonage  furnishes.  He  had  large  experience  in  teaching 
in  the  district  schools  in  Ohio  during  the  winter  vacations  while  pur- 
suing his  college  studies,  and  later  more  advanced  work  in  Vermont. 
He  was  graduated  at  Oberlin  College,  A.  B.,  1873,  and  at  the  Divinity 
School  of  Yale  University  in  1876.  While  a  student  of  theology  he 
named  as  his  most  helpful  books,  the  writings  of  Neander,  especially 
his  Life  of  Christ  and  all  his  voluminous  works  on  Church  History. 
He  began  his  professional  career  as  a  clergyman  July  1st,  1876, 
when  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  South 
Britain,  Connecticut.  His  choice  of  a  profession  was  largely  deter- 
mined by  his  mother,  who  desired  that  he  should  be  a  clergyman. 
He  served  the  church  at  South  Britain  for  eight  years,  resigning  his 
9  171 


172  SAMUEL    JOSHUA    BRYANT. 

pastorate  July  1st,  1884.  In  speaking  of  this  period  of  his  life  Mr. 
Bryant  says :  "  Circumstances  over  which  I  had  no  control  caused 
my  leaving  the  pastorate  after  eight  years  of  delightful  experience 
and  useful  service.  It  was  a  sore  trial  to  give  up  a  chosen  calling  in 
the  height  of  youth  and  success,  and  in  doing  it  my  greatest  comfort 
was  the  saying  of  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  one  of  my  teachers  whom  I 
revere,  viz. — '  The  Lord  calls  men  out  of  the  ministry  as  well  as 
into  it.'  The  cares  of  a  large  family  including  parents  of  self  and 
wife  were  more  than  I  could  attend  to  and  be  faithful  to  the  duties 
of  a  pastor.  If  this  was  not  a  Divine  call  to  leave  the  ministry,  it 
practically  amounted  to  the  same  thing."  He  accepted  the  position 
of  secretary  and  treasurer  of  Maltby,  Stevens  &  Curtiss  Company  at 
Wallingford,  Connecticut,  in  October,  1884,  and  remained  with  the 
company  up  to  1891,  when  he  formed  the  real  estate  and  insurance 
firm  of  Bryant  &  Main  in  West  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  the  firm  was 
dissolved  in  1895,  when,  having  pursued  a  course  in  law  at  Yale 
Law  School,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  June,  1895,  and  began  prac- 
tice as  counselor-at-law  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  He  has  served 
as  Judge  of  the  Orange  Town  Court  since  April,  1895,  was  a  member 
of  the  School  Board,  burgess  of  the  Borough  Board,  borough  assessor, 
representative  in  the  Connecticut  Legislature  in  1890,  and  member 
of  the  State  Constitutional  Convention.  As  a  Mason  he  has  held 
office  as  master  of  Blue  Lodge,  commander  of  New  Haven  Comman- 
dery,  and  grand  commander  of  Knights  Templar  of  Connecticut.  He 
is  also  a  member  of  the  Young  Men's  Eepublican  Club  of  New  Haven, 
of  the  Knights  Templar  Club,  and  of  the  Adirondack  League  Club, 
of  which  he  serves  on  the  board  of  trustees.  He  has  served  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  West  Haven  as  a  deacon  and  as  treasurer 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  was  married  May  23d,  1876,  to  Ellen 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  David  A.  and  Elizabeth  Tyler  of  New  Haven, 
and  of  the  four  children  born  of  this  marriage  two  are  now  living: 
Harriet  Elizabeth,  now  the  widow  of  Howard  W.  Thompson,  former 
cashier  of  Tradesmen's  National  Bank,  and  Douglas  Lord,  a  graduate 
of  Sheffield  Scientific  School  of  Yale,  class  of  1903. 

To  young  men  Mr.  Bryant  from  his  standpoint  says:  "I  prize 
most  my  experience  on  the  farm  and  as  a  teacher  of  country  schools. 
One  who  can  successfully  govern  an  ideal  country  school  is  fit  to  rule 
an  Empire." 


CRANSTON   BRENTON 

BRENTON,  REV.  CRANSTON,  M.S.,  professor  of  English 
literature  in  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  one 
of  the  most  energetic  and  eloquent  clergymen  and  preachers  in 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Jamaica,  Queens 
Borough,  New  York,  November  20th,  1874.  He  is  of  English  and 
Scottish  descent  and  traces  his  ancestry  in  this  country  to  Governor 
William  Brenton,  deputy-governor  and  governor  of  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations  (1663-1699),  Governor  John  Cranston, 
governor  of  Rhode  Island  (1678-1680),  Governor  Samuel  Cranston, 
governor  of  Rhode  Island  (1698-1727),  and  to  Governor  Roger  Wil- 
liams, the  renowned  settler,  governor,  and  divine.  Professor  Brenton 
is  the  son  of  Benjamin  Jahleel  Brenton,  a  business  man  in  New 
York  City,  who  has  held  various  positions  of  responsibility  and  trust 
in  Jamaica  and  is  honored  for  his  business  integrity,  his  conscientious 
citizenship,  and  his  scholarly  intellect.  His  wife,  Professor  Brenton's 
mother,  was  Orvetta  Hall  before  her  marriage,  and  her  strength  of 
character  and  mental  vigor  have  always  exerted  strong  moral  and 
intellectual  influence  upon  her  son. 

A  strong  constitution,  ennobling  home  influences,  and  the  best 
educational  advantages  opened  wide  opportunities  to  Cranston  Bren- 
ton in  his  early  youth,  and  he  was  eager  and  responsive  in  making 
the  most  of  each  one  of  them.  He  was  studious,  and  his  early  tastes 
inclined  to  scholarly  habits  and  centered  upon  mechanics  and  litera- 
ture. His  early  school  days  were  spent  in  the  home  town  —  Jamaica. 
His  interest  in  science  led  him  to  take  a  course  in  the  Brooklyn  Poly- 
technic Institute,  after  which  he  matriculated  at  Trinity  College, 
Hartford,  in  1896,  where  he  received  his  B.S.  degree  in  1899.  Be- 
tween the  periods  of  preparatory  and  college  training,  Professor 
Brenton  had  a  business  experience  involving  the  assuming  of  much 
responsibility  that  has  since  proved  valuable  to  him  in  many  ways. 

173 


174  CRANSTON   BRENTON 

This  was  from  1891  to  1896,  when  he  was  superintendent  of  a  manu- 
facturing establishment  in  New  York  City. 

Professor  Brenton  entered  Trinity  with  the  intention  of  studying 
medicine  later  and  making  a  specialty  of  surgery,  but  decided,  before 
the  completion  of  his  college  course,  to  enter  the  ministry.  With 
this  end  in  view,  he  became  a  student  at  the  Berkeley  Divinity  School 
in  Middletown,  where  he  acquired  "a  broad  conception  of  religion 
and  an  appreciation  of  modern  religious  thought."  At  Berkeley, 
although  his  previous  training  had  been  purely  scientific,  he  com- 
pleted the  full  three  years'  course  in  two  years  and  was  graduated 
with  a  high  standing  in  1901,  in  which  year  he  was  ordained  to  the 
diaconate  by  the  Et.  Eev.  Chauncey  Bunce  Brewster,  D.D.,  Bishop 
of  Connecticut.  He  was  advanced  to  the  priesthood  by  Bishop 
Brewster  in  the  following  year.  In  1902  Professor  Brenton  received 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Science,  in  course,  from  Trinity  College. 

From  1901  to  1904  Professor  Brenton  was  first  minister  in 
charge  and  then  rector  of  All  Saints  Memorial  Church  in  New  Mil- 
ford,  Connecticut.  In  1904  he  received  a  call  from  his  Alma  Mater, 
Trinity  College,  to  be  assistant  professor  of  English,  and  since  1906 
he  has  been  professor  of  English  in  Trinity.  Though  he  has  had 
no  parish  since  accepting  this  chair,  he  has  been  active  in  ministerial 
work  in  the  College  and  in  and  around  Hartford,  and  is  much  sought 
after  as  a  preacher  and  public  speaker  and  lecturer.  The  English 
department  is  one  of  the  strongest  at  Trinity  and  the  proffer  of  that 
chair  to  a  man  as  young  as  Cranston  Brenton  is  a  telling  tribute  to 
his  scholarship. 

Professor  Brenton  is  a  member  of  the  college  fraternity  of  Delta 
Psi,  and  of  the  patriotic  Society  of  Colonial  Wars.  In  politics  he  is 
a  Democrat  by  inheritance,  but  votes  an  Independent  ticket.  As  a 
priest  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  he  follows  the  sound 
theology  of  that  body  with  a  zeal  and  fruitfulness  bred  of  a  happy 
combination  of  youthful  vigor  and  mature  judgment.  As  a  preacher 
and  lecturer  he  is  magnetic,  forceful,  lucid,  positive,  earnest,  and 
eloquent,  and  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  the  classroom  the  matter  and 
manner  of  his  remarks  always  bespeak  the  most  favorable  considera- 
tion and  bear  testimony  to  a  thorough  understanding  and  a  careful 
and  original  treatment  of  his  subject. 


CKANSTON  BKENTON  175 

In  June,  1901,  Cranston  Brenton  married  Elizabeth  Alden 
Curtis,  daughter  of  Dr.  Jonathan  S.  Curtis  of  Hartford,  herself  a 
scholar  and  writer  of  unusual  talent  and  ability.  Professor  and  Mrs. 
Brenton  have  one  child,  a  son,  born  in  1906. 


JOHN   CHAPIN   BRINSMADE 

BEINSMADE,  JOHN"  CHAPIN,  principal  of  the  Gunnery 
School  at  Washington,  Connecticut,  is  a  descendant  of  Deacon 
Samuel  Chapin,  who  came  from  Wales  about  1640,  and  was 
prominent  in  the  early  history  of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  also 
of  John  Brinsmade,  who  came  to  Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  in 
1637.  Mr.  Brinsmade's  father  was  William  Bartlett  Brinsmade  of 
Springfield,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1840  and  a  civil 
engineer,  a  pioneer  in  New  England  railroading  and  a  railroad  super- 
intendent. His  mother  was  Charlotte  Blake  Chapin,  a  woman  of 
noble  character,  whose  influence  on  the  intellectual,  moral  and  spirit- 
ual life  of  her  son  was  strong. 

Mr.  Brinsmade  was  born  in  Springfield,  April  24th,  1852,  and 
his  early  days  were  spent  in  that  city  and  in  Washington,  Connecti- 
cut, where  he  went  to  continue  his  preparatory  studies  at  the  Gunnery 
School,  after  having  attended  private  schools  in  his  native  town.  En- 
tering Harvard  College  in  1870,  he  was  graduated  in  the  class  of  1874. 
Throughout  his  youth  he  was  fairly  robust  and  exceedingly  fond  of 
out-door  sports,  particularly  baseball,  at  which  he  was  an  adept.  He 
would  rather  play  than  do  "chores"  about  the  house,  as  he  was  required 
to  do  in  the  good  old  New  England  fashion,  but  he  found  abundant 
time  for  both  after  all,  for  his  book  tasks  came  easy  to  him  and  no 
especially  great  number  of  hours  were  required  for  him  to  keep  up 
with  his  studies. 

The  Gunnery,  under  the  principalship  of  F.  W.  Gunn  of  honored 
memory,  had  won  a  name  for  itself  throughout  the  land.  Upon  Mr. 
Brinsmade's  graduation  from  Harvard,  he  accepted  a  position  in  the 
institution  as  teacher,  coming  once  more  under  the  kindly  influence 
of  its  beloved  principal.  After  two  years,  on  October  4th,  1876,  he 
married  Mr.  Gunn's  daughter,  Miss  Mary  Gold  Gunn,  and  in  1881 
succeeded  to  the  principalship.  Mr.  Gunn  had  taught  his  boys  to  love 
sport  and  to  love  study,  developing  their  instinct  to  discriminate  as 
to  the  proportion  between  play  and  work,  and  inculcating  in  them 

176 


JOHN    CHAPIN    BEINSMADB.  177 

above  all  the  spirit  of  manliness  and  patriotism.  In  his  early  days  as 
a  pupil  and  later  as  a  teacher,  Mr.  Brinsmade  had  become  imbued  with 
these  ideas,  and  the  deeply  interested  graduates  and  friends  of  the 
Gunnery  feel  that  the  first  master's  mantle  fell  upon  worthy  shoulders. 
The  men  of  today  who  climb  the  old  Litchfield  County  hills  to  revisit 
the  happy  scenes  of  their  youth,  find  the  same  cordial  welcome,  the 
same  atmosphere  of  learning  adapted  to  wideawake,  joyous  youth. 
Mr.  Brinsmade  has  had  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living. 

Highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow  citizens  of  the  quaint  old  town, 
he  has  served  them  as  representative  in  the  General  Assembly,  in  the 
session  of  1893,  and  again  as  delegate  to  the  State  Constitutional  Con- 
vention in  1902.  In  politics  he  is  a  Eepublican.  His  religious  de- 
nomination is  the  Congregational.  As  the  years  go  by  he  loses  none 
of  his  fondness  for  sport  and  while  he  may  not  run  the  bases  as  boldly 
as  he  once  did,  he  gets  recreation  and  ozone  in  pursuit  of  the  golf 
ball.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Eevolution,  of  the  Litchfield  County  University  Club  and 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science. 


BENJAMIN   KIEL  BRISTOL 

BEISTOL,  BENJAMIN  HIEL,  one  of  Connecticut's  progres- 
sive manufacturers  and  mechanics,  the  head  of  the  Bristol 
Company  of  Waterbury,  manufacturers  of  recording  instru- 
ments, was  born  in  Naugatuck,  Connecticut,  June  19,  1837,  the  son 
of  Hiel  and  Anna  Chastina  (Potter)  Bristol.  He  is  descended  from 
Henry  Bristol,  an  early  settler  of  the  New  Haven  Colony,  who  died  in 
1695.  The  line  of  descent  is  through  Daniel,  who  was  born  May  4, 
1671,  and  died  May  15,  1728. 

Eichard,  son  of  Daniel,  who  was  born  October  18,  1708,  and  died 
in  1791. 

Nathan,  son  of  Eichard,  was  baptised  on  March  3,  1752,  at 
Milford.  On  his  tombstone  standing  at  present  in  the  old  cemetery 
at  Milford,  is  inscribed,  "Died  April  25th,  1826,  aged  seventy-five 
years."  He  married  Anna,  daughter  of  Jesse  Lombard,  whose  tomb- 
stone is  also  in  the  old  Milford  cemetery.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the 
Eevolution  and  fought  in  the  battles  of  Long  Island  and  White 
Plains.  Nehemiah,  a  son  of  Nathan,  married  Lorania  Down,  June 
3,  1798.  On  his  tombstone  in  the  old  Milford  cemetery  is  inscribed, 
"  Died  May  30th,  1832,  aged  sixty-two  years/' 

Mr.  Bristol's  father,  Hiel  Bristol,  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  a 
most  industrious  worker  and  devoted  Christian,  who  gave  zealous 
support  to  the  Baptist  Church.  He  moved  from  Milford  to  New- 
town  and  thence  to  Naugatuck,  where  Benjamin  was  born. 

The  future  manufacturer,  Benjamin  Bristol,  was  brought  up  and 
educated  in  the  village  of  Naugatuck  and  supplemented  his  simple 
educational  opportunities  by  general  reading  at  home.  He  was 
taught  strict  attention  to  regular  duties  and  business  principles  at  an 
early  age  and  learned  lasting  lessons  of  industry  and  temperance  in 
these  youthful  labors.  Anything  concerning  machinery  was  most 
interesting  to  him  and  this  keen  personal  interest  in  his  work 
brought  him  rapid  success. 

178 


BENJAMIN   HIEL  BRISTOL.  181 

He  entered  the  employ  of  Platt  Brothers  in  1860  and  soon  became 
foreman  of  their  factory  at  Platt's  Mills  and  he  remained  in  that 
position  until  1900.  Meanwhile,  in  1890,  the  Bristol  Company  was 
started  in  Waterbury  by  the  father  and  sons  for  the  manufacture  of 
Recording  Instruments  and  Steel  Belt  Lacing.  From  a  most  modest 
beginning,  the  concern  has  grown  to  large  proportions  and  now  occu- 
pies commodious  and  well  equipped  factories,  shipping  instruments 
to  all  parts  of  the  world  and  finding  eager  markets  for  their  excellent 
products.  The  company  has  an  office  in  New  York  and  Chicago,  be- 
side the  home  office  in  Waterbury.  Bristol's  recording  pressure  and 
vacuum  gauges,  voltmeters,  ammeters  and  watt  meters,  and  recording 
thermometers  are  in  universal  use  and  rank  among  the  most  valuable, 
successful  and  ingenious  inventions  of  practical  use  today.  These 
instruments  have  received  medals  at  the  Columbian,  Paris  and  St. 
Louis  Expositions  and  are  in  high  repute  in  the  world  of  mechanics. 
The  metal  belt  fastener  manufactured  by  the  company  and  designated 
by  them  as  Bristol's  Steel  Belt  Lacing  is  made  in  designs  for  all 
kinds  of  belts  and  it  enjoys  a  world-wide  reputation  and  market  on 
account  of  its  efficiency.  It  is  through  the  efforts  and  ability  of 
Benjamin  Hiel  Bristol  and  his  sons  that  the  Bristol  Company  takes 
this  high  and  useful  position  among  the  manufacturing  industries 
of  the  day. 

A  quiet,  industrious,  single-minded  man,  Mr.  Bristol  has  given 
his  time  to  his  work  to  the  exclusion  of  politics.  He  votes  the  Ee- 
publican  ticket  as  a  rule,  though  he  often  feels  impelled  to  become 
"independent."  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Society  of 
Naugatuck  and  he  also  affiliates  with  the  Masons  and  the  Knights 
Templar,  being  a  member  of  Shepard's  Lodge  of  Naugatuck  and  Clark 
Commandery  of  Waterbury.  He  is  fond  of  travel  and  an  enthusiastic 
automobilist.  His  winter  home  is  in  Naugatuck  and  his  summer 
home  is  at  Middlebury,  Connecticut. 

Mr.  Bristol  has  been  married  three  times:  in  1858  to  Pauline  S. 
Phelps,  who  died  in  1877 ;  in  1878  to  Mary  E.  Eussell,  who  died  in 
1897.  The  present  Mrs.  Bristol  was  Sarah  Justine  Milligan  of  Il- 
linois, whom  he  married  June  11,  1902.  He  has  six  children,  all  by 
his  first  wife: — William  Henry,  whose  biography  is  given  in  this 
work,  Franklin  Benjamin,  Sarah  A.  A.,  Bennet  Beri,  Edgar  Hiel  and 
Bertha  Pauline. 


182  BENJAMIN   HIBL  BRISTOL. 

The  surest  success  according  to  Mr.  Bristol's  idea  will  come  to 
those  who  "  preserve  body  and  mind  sound,  with  self-reliance  and  an 
honest  purpose  in  life." 


DAVID   ERSKINE   WHITON 

WHITON,  DAVID  ERSKINE,  late  inventor  and  manufac- 
turer of  New  London,  was  born  in  Stafford,  Tolland 
County,  Connecticut,  October  15th,  1825,  and  was  the  son 
of  Heber  and  Marcia  Gay  Whiton.  His  father  was  a  cooper  and  far- 
mer of  Stafford,  through  whom  he  traced  his  ancestral  line  to  James 
Whiton,  who  came  from  Norfolk,  England,  to  Hingham,  Massachu- 
setts, previous  to  1647  and  was  an  extensive  land  owner  in  that  town. 
James  Whiton,  second,  fought  in  King  Philip's  War  and  Esquire 
Elijah  Whiton,  a  later  ancestor,  was  a  deacon,  town  treasurer  and 
justice  of  peace. 

At  fourteen  David  Whiton  left  the  district  schools  of  Monson, 
Massachusetts,  where  his  early  education  was  acquired,  and  served  a 
seven  years'  apprenticeship  under  his  brother,  Lucius  Heber  Whiton, 
a  carpenter.  During  part  of  that  time,  that  is,  until  he  was  nineteen, 
he  studied  in  the  public  schools  during  the  winter  terms.  At  the 
close  of  his  apprenticeship  he  spent  three  years  as  journeyman  and 
then  in  1849  he  spent  another  year  at  the  same  work  in  the  West. 
In  1850  he  returned  to  Stafford  and  settled  down  to  his  trade.  Two 
years  later  he  "set  up  for  himself  in  West  Stafford  as  a  millwright  and 
builder  of  turbine  water  wheels  and  general  mill  machinery.  He  soon 
developed  a  large  business,  which  increased  rapidly  not  only  in  amount 
but  in  variety  of  products.  Mr.  Whiton  continually  added  new  spe- 
cialties in  machinery  and  invented  many  useful  and  valuable  machines, 
embodying  his  own  rare  mechanical  genius  and  skill. 

In  1886  the  plant  was  removed  to  New  London,  which  has  been 
the  home  of  the  Whiton  industry  ever  since.  The  concern  was  incor- 
porated as  the  D.  E.  Whiton  Machine  Company,  of  which  Mr.  Whiton 
was  president  until  his  death  in  1904. 

Mr.  Whiton  was  twice  a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  in 
1867  and  1879,  and  during  his  terms  of  office  he  served  on  several 
important  committees.  He  was  a  constant  and  loyal  Republican  in 

188 


184  DAVID   EESKINE    WHITON. 

political  views.  He  was  a  zealous  member  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  and  was  a  trustee  of  that  organization  and  a  Sunday- 
school  superintendent  for  many  years.  When  a  resident  of  Stafford 
he  was  frequently  the  incumbent  of  local  offices,  including  those  of 
assessor,  tax  collector,  selectman,  and  member  of  the  board  of  relief. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Whiton  occurred  on  September  llth,  1904.  He 
is  survived  by  a  son  and  a  daughter.  The  son,  Lucius  Erskine  Whiton, 
succeeded  his  father  as, president  of  the  D.  E.  Whiton  Machine  Com- 
pany and  is  the  subject  of  another  biography  in  this  work.  Mrs. 
David  E.  Whiton  was  Asenath  Francis,  a  descendant  of  John  Alden, 
whom  Mr.  Whiton  married  in  1856  and  who  died  in  1902.  Mr. 
Whiton's  name  will  long  be  honored  in  his  community  for  his  prom- 
inence in  business  and  public  affairs,  for  his  many  valuable  inventions 
and  for  his  own  worth  and  stability  as  a  citizen  and  a  man. 


LUCIUS  ERSKINE  WHITON 

WHITON,  LUCIUS  EKSKINE,  president  of  the  D.  E.  Whiton 
Machine  Company  of  New  London  and  a  leader  in  educa- 
tional and  religious  affairs  in  that  city,  was  born  in  West 
Stafford,  Tolland  County,  Connecticut,  December  25th,  1862.  He 
is  the  son  of  the  late  David  Erskine  Whiton,  manufacturer  and  in- 
ventor, and  has  followed  his  father's  footsteps  closely  and  creditably. 
On  his  father's  side  Mr.  Whiton  is  a  descendant  of  James  Whiton,  the 
founder  of  the  family  in  America,  who  came  from  England  prior  to 
1647,  and  from  his  son  James,  a  soldier  in  King  Philip's  War.  Mr. 
Whiton's  mother  was  Asenath  Francis  Whiton,  a  descendant  of  the 
historic  John  Alden. 

After  a  few  years  in  the  district  schools  of  his  native  town, 
Lucius  Whiton  entered  Wesleyan  Academy  at  Wilbraham,  Massachu- 
setts, where  he  graduated  in  1881.  The  following  autumn  he  com- 
menced learning  his  father's  trade  in  the  family  machine  shop.  He 
soon  became  a  partner  in  the  business  and  when  the  plant  was  removed 
to  New  London  and  incorporated  there  in  1886  he  became  secretary 
and  treasurer  and,  later,  general  manager  of  the  company.  Upon  his 
father's  death  in  1904  he  became  president  of  the  D.  E.  Whiton 
Machine  Company  and  he  still  holds  the  headship  of  that  large  and 
flourishing  business. 

Lucius  Whiton  is  a  director  of  the  Union  Bank,  a  member  of  the 
New  London  board  of  trade,  a  trustee  of  the  New  London  Manual 
Training  School,  and  a  trustee  of  Wilbraham  Academy.  He  has 
served  his  city  in  the  common  council,  as  alderman,  and  as  school  visi- 
tor. He  is  very  prominent  in  the  Second  Congregational  Church, 
being  a  deacon  and  a  member  of  the  society's  standing  committee  of 
that  church.  In  politics  he  unites  with  the  Eepublican  party  and  in 
fraternal  affiliation  he  is  a  member  of  Brainard  Lodge,  No.  102,  F. 
and  A.  M.,  of  New  London.  Mr.  Whiton's  family  numbers  a  wife 
and  three  daughters,  Helen  King,  Dorothy,  and  Winifred  Gardiner. 

185 


186  LUCIUS   ERSKINB   WHITON. 

Mrs.  Whiton,  whom  he  married  October  12th,  1887,  was  Viola  E.  King 
of  Lowell,  Massachusetts.  New  London  is  the  family  home  as  well 
as  the  center  of  Mr.  Whiton's  many  interests. 


WILLIS  FARRAR  HOBBS 

HOBBS,  WILLIS  FARRAR,  president  of  the  Bridgeport  Hard- 
ware Manufacturing  Company  and  one  of  the  foremost 
manufacturers  in  that  city  of  manufacturing,  was  born  in 
North  Hampton,  New  Hampshire,  February  4th,  1854,  the  son  of 
Jonathan  and  Mary  French  Hobbs.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  on 
his  side  Mr.  Hobbs  traces  his  ancestry  to  Maurice  Hobbs  who  came 
from  England  and  settled  in  Hampton,  New  Hampshire,  about  1640. 
On  the  maternal  side  Mr.  Hobbs  is  of  Norman  descent  and  is  directly 
descended  from  John  Alden.  Other  ancestors  on  both  sides  of  his 
family  tree  were  distinguished  officers  in  the  Continental  Army. 

An  old  red  brick  schoolhouse  in  North  Hampton  furnished  Mr. 
Hobbs'  earliest  education,  which  was  followed  by  a  course  at  Phillips 
Academy  in  Exeter.  During  this  early  period  of  his  schooling  he 
spent  many  hours  at  work  on  his  father's  farm.  In  1873  he  went 
to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  where  he  worked  as  a  i  clerk  in  a  drug 
store  until  the  fall  of  1880,  when  he  went  to  Bridgeport  to  become  en- 
gaged in  the  manuf aqturing  business,  which  he  has  made  his  "  life 
business"  continuously  ever  since. 

Twenty-six  years  of  devotion  to  manufacturing  have  had  most 
fruitful  results  in  Mr.  Hobbs'  experience  and  his  present  positions 
as  president  of  the  Bridgeport  Hardware  Manufacturing  Company  and 
as  Treasurer  of  the  Manufacturers'  Association  of  Bridgeport  give 
generous  proof  of  this  fact.  Outside  of  business  interests  his  time  is 
chiefly  given  to  the  interests  of  home,  church,  social  life,  and  public 
matters.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Seaside  Club  and  has  been  a  member 
of  its  board  of  governors  for  the  past  three  years.  He  takes  an  ac- 
tive interest  in  the  Congregational  Church  and  in  politics  he  sup- 
ports the  Republican)  party.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  one 
son,  Clifford  Russell  Hobbs.  Mrs.  Hobbs  was  Florence  Eardley- 
Wilmot  of  Bridgeport,  whom  he  married  in  September,  1881. 


187 


JESSE   MILTON   COBURN 

COBUKN,  DK.  JESSE  MILTON,  M.D.,  physician,  surgeon, 
and  ex-mayor  of  South  Norwalk,  Pairfield  County,  Connecti- 
cut, is  of  English  ancestry  and  is  the  son  of  the  late  clergy- 
man, Jesse  Wilton  Coburn,  D.D.  His  mother  was  Almira  Morse 
Coburn,  who  died  at  his  birth.  He  was  born  in  Pittsfield,  Merrimack 
County,  New  Hampshire,  March  27th,  1853,  and  spent  most  of  his 
youth  in  that  city.  Between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  seventeen  he 
worked  at  finishing  leather  in  a  currying  shop  that  he  might  earn 
money  for  his  schooling.  He  attended  the  high  school  in  Manchester, 
New  Hampshire,  and  the  Pembroke  Academy  in  Pembroke,  New 
Hampshire.  He  then  worked  in  a  doctor's  office  and  still  later  studied 
at  the  Hahnemann  Medical  College  in  Philadelphia.  He  completed 
his  preparation  for  the  medical  profession  at  the  Medical  School  of 
Boston  University,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1874. 

Although  his  experience  as  office  boy  to  Dr.  0.  S.  Sanders  in 
Boston,  in  1870,  might  be  called  his  first  work  in  life  connected  with 
his  chosen  profession,  Dr.  Coburn's  first  experience  in  the  actual  prac- 
tice of  medicine  came  immediately  after  his  graduation  from  medical 
school  in  1874.  He  opened  his  practice  in  Brooklyn,  Connecticut, 
and  immediately  evinced  marked  ability  and  skill  as  a  physician  and 
surgeon.  He  was  soon  made  surgeon  to  the  Boston  and  Albany  Bail- 
road.  In  1893  he  removed  to  South  Norwalk  and  since  that  time  he 
has  been  surgeon  for  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford  Bail- 
road  and  city  physician  of  South  Norwalk.  He  has  also  been  active 
in  politics  and  in  1899  he  was  elected  mayor  of  South  Norwalk  on 
the  Eepublican  ticket.  As  the  executive  head  of  the  municipality 
he  carried  on  the  city  government  with  honor  and  credit  and  won  great 
popularity. 

Dr.  Coburn  is  a  member  of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fel- 
lows and  of  the  Norwalk  Yacht  Club,  being  fleet  surgeon  of  the  latter. 
He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Congregational  Church  and  is  chair- 
man of  the  worship  committee  of  that  religious  body.  His  family 

188 


JESSE   MILTON    COBURN. 


189 


numbers  a  wife  and  two  sons,  Harrie  Cutter  Coburn,  born  May  26th, 
1883,  and  Aaron  Cutter  Coburn,  born  June  19th,  1885.  Mrs.  Coburn 
was  Abbie  M.  Cutter  of  Shrewsbury,  Massachusetts,  whom  he  married 
August  4th,  1879. 

The  making  of  a  home  has  been  Dr.  Coburn's  supreme  interest 
outside  of  professional  duties,  and  the  result  is  one  of  the  most  artistic, 
substantial  and  cultured  of  Connecticut's  homes.  His  passion  for 
antique  furniture,  silver  and  china  is  lavishly  but  consistently  and 
harmoniously  indulged,  and  many  beautiful,  interesting  and  historic 
pieces  combine  to  make  rooms  of  rare  charm  and  elegance  in  which 
are  found  specimens  of  colonial  art  and  handicraft  seldom  equaled. 
His  own  pleasure  and  profit  gained  in  the  interesting  process  of  col- 
lecting and  arranging  these  precious  antiques  and  in  making  his  at- 
tractive home  have  led  him  to  advise  all  men  to  "  get  a  hobby."  In  so 
doing  Dr.  Coburn  has  exercised  for  ends  of  culture  and  comfort  the 
same  faculties  which  make  him  an  able  physician  and  conscientious 
citizen  —  thoroughness,  patience,  judgment  and  enthusiasm  —  and  in 
both  hobby  and  profession  the  result  has  been  great  success. 


10 


SAMUEL  FESSENDEN 

FESSENDEN,  THE  HON.  SAMUEL,  of  Stamford,  State's 
Attorney  for  Fairfield  County,  enjoys  a  friendship  as  strong 
and  as  extensive  through  the  land  as  that  of  any  citizen  of 
Connecticut.  He  is  a  native  of  Maine,  where  members  of  the  family 
have  won  high  position  in  the  minds  of  and  at  the  hands  of  their 
fellow  men. 

The  Kev.  Samuel  C.  Fessenden,  Mr.  Fessenden' s  father,  was  born 
in  New  Gloucester,  Maine,  in  1815,  and  attained  distinction  as  a 
clergyman,  as  an  editor,  as  a  Congressman  and  as  a  government  offi- 
cial. For  a  time  he  was  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
Eockland.  His  wife  was  Mary  A.  G.  Abbe.  In  1856  he  was  editor 
of  the  Maine  Evangelist.  Then  he  studied  law,  and  before  many  years 
had  become  judge  of  the  municipal  court  at  Kockland.  The  electors 
of  his  district  sent  him  to  represent  them  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Con- 
gress and  later  President  G'arfield  appointed  him  United  States  Con- 
sul at  St.  Johns,  N.  B.  From  1864  to  1867,  he  was  examiner-in-chief 
of  the  United  States  Patent  office  in  Washington,  and  it  was  on  his 
retirement  from  that  position  that  he  made  Stamford  his  home,  in 
which  town  he  died  on  April  18th,  1882. 

Samuel  Fessenden  was  born  on  April  12th,  1847,  during  his 
father's  residence  in  Rockland,  Maine.  Strong,  vigorous  and  already 
giving  promise  of  high  intellectual  attainment,  he  was  being  prepared 
for  college  in  the  Lewiston  Academy  at  Lewiston,  Maine,  when  the 
Civil  War  broke  out.  Young  Fessenden  was  only  sixteen  years  old,  yet 
as  well  developed  as  most  youths  of  eighteen  or  twenty,  so  that  when 
his  patriotic  spirit  could  no  longer  be  restrained  and  he  presented  him- 
self for  enlistment,  he  was  accepted.  The  Seventh  Maine  Battery  — 
later  to  win  such  an  illustrious  name  in  the  great  conflict  —  was 
just  being  recruited  and  he  was  put  into  its  ranks  as  a  private. 

For  his  bravery,  tact  and  devotion  through  the  fierce  Wilderness 
Campaign,  he  was  recommended  by  General  U.  S.  Grant,  commanding 
the  Federal  armies,  for  a  commission  and  was  made  first  lieutenant 

190 


SAMUEL   FESSENDEN.  193 

by  order  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Soon  be  was  promoted  to  be  captain 
in  the  infantry  of  the  regular  army,  but  his  preferences  being  for  the 
artillery  arm  of  the  service  he  was  commissioned  in  the  First  Maine 
Light  Artillery  and  subsequently  served  on  the  staff  of  General  A.  P. 
Howe  till  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox. 

Returning  from  war,  he  at  once  resumed  his  studies,  but  with  his 
mind  fixed  upon  the  profession  of  law.  The  preliminary  course 
quickly  mastered,  he  went  to  the  Harvard  Law  School  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1870.  As  the  family  had  then  removed  to  Stamford,  he 
went  there  and,  on  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Fairfield  County, 
began  his  practice  in  the  town  in  which  he  ever  since  has  resided.  He 
was  fortunate  in  being  taken  into  the  firm  of  the  late  Joshua  B.  Ferris 
and  Calvin  G.  Child,  men  well  qualified  to  help  lay  the  solid  founda- 
tions for  his  brilliant  future.  On  Mr.  Child's  retirement,  the  firm 
name  became  Ferris  &  Fessenden  and  continued  thus  till  Mr.  Ferris 
retired  wholly  from  professional  life.  Then  Galen  A.  Carter  became 
associated  with  Mr.  Fessenden  and  later  Homer  S.  Cummings,  so  that 
the  firm  name  became  Fessenden,  Carter  &  Cummings,  and  subse- 
quently Fessenden  &  Carter,  law  firms  as  widely  known  as  any  in  the 
State. 

Mr.  Fessenden  has  served  most  efficiently  as  State's  Attorney  for 
Fairfield  County  since  1880,  discharging  faithfully  duties  much 
heavier  than  fall  to  the  State's  Attorney  of  other  counties  of  the 
State,  and  having  made  the  law  literally  a  "terror  to  evil-doers." 
Some  of  the  most  important  civil  causes,  and  some  of  the  most  cel- 
ebrated cases  in  the  criminal  annals  of  New  England  have  been  con- 
ducted by  him  to  a  successful  issue. 

Mr.  Fessenden  was  only  twenty-seven  when  he  began  to  give  prac- 
tical bent  to  his  interest  in  public  affairs,  or  politics  as  it  is  called. 
In  1874  he  was  sent  to  the  Legislature  where  he  was  placed  on  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  itself  a  recognition  of  his  legal  ability.  In 
1879,  he  was  sent  again  and  his  eloquence  and  power  of  reasoning 
made  him  a  leader  and  brought  to  him  an  influence  which  was  to 
broaden  with  the  years.  Thus  when  in  1895,  he  again  was  called  upon 
to  leave  his  practice  for  a  term  in  the  House,  he  was  the  unanimous 
choice  of  his  party  for  speaker.  His  never  failing  courtesy,  his  cor- 
diality and  good  fellowship,  and  withal  his  fairness  and  discrimina- 
tion endeared  him  to  the  members  of  both  parties  who  joined  in 


194  SAMUEL   FESSENDEN. 

giving  him  splendid  testimonial  of  their  esteem  at  the  session's  close. 
Those  who  could  not  agree  with  him  in  all  points  always  said  of  him 
that  he  was  a  fair  and  chivalrous  antagonist.  Since  the  first  Grant 
campaign  he  has  always  taken  an  active  part  in  advocating  Republi- 
can policies  in  conventions  and  public  meetings,  and  in  drafting  dec- 
larations of  party  principles,  and  in  framing  legislative  enactments 
concerning  elections. 

In  1893  although  not  a  candidate,  he  received  twenty-six  votes  in 
the  caucus  of  his  party  for  United  States  Senator;  in  1899,  seventy- 
four  votes;  in  1905  seventy-three  votes.  Upon  the  death  of  Senator 
Platt,  although  having  come  within  a  few  votes  of  a  majority  in  the 
course  of  his  senatorial  candidacies,  and  strongly  urged  by  his  friends 
to  again  be  a  candidate,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Chairman  of  the 
Eepublican  State  Central  Committee  declaring  that  he  was  not  and 
would  not  be  a  candidate  for  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  death  of 
Senator  Platt,  and  thereupon  advocated  the  nomination  of  Senator 
Brandegee  and  led  the  contest  in  the  Eepublican  caucus,  which 
resulted  in  that  gentleman's  nomination  and  election. 

In  1905,  he  was  the  choice  of  his  senatorial  district  to  represent 
it  in  the  Senate,  and  once  more  was  his  circle  of  appreciative  friends 
widened.  Since  that  session,  a  weakened  physical  condition,  greatly 
to  the  disappointment  of  his  fellow  citizens,  has  kept  him  from 
political  activity. 

But  Mr.  Fessenden's  public  service  has  not  been  for  the  State 
alone.  He  has  been  a  delegate  from  Connecticut  in  four  Republican 
National  Conventions.  In  1876,  he  was  delegate  to  the  Convention  in 
Cincinnati  which  nominated  Rutherford  B.  Hayes;  in  1880,  when 
James  A.  Garfield  was  nominated,  and  in  1888,  when  Benjamin 
Harrison  was  chosen,  he  was  delegate  at  large ;  in  the  Republican  State 
Convention  of  1896,  at  New  Haven,  which  nominated  delegates  to 
the  Republican  National  Convention,  he  drafted  and  advocated  that 
plank  of  the  platform  which  was  adopted,  declaring  that  "  We  are 
unalterably  opposed  to  the  issue  of  unsecured  paper  currency,  either 
by  the  government  or  the  banks;  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  at  any 
ratio,  and  favor  a  single  standard  of  value,  and  that  standard  gold. 
We  believe  that  this  policy,  with  a  sound  and  stable  currency  upon  a 
gold  basis,  will  furnish  sufficient  revenue  to  meet  all  requirements  of 
the  government  and  properly  support  it,"  and  was  himself  chosen  a 


SAMUEL  FESSENDEN.  195 

delegate-at-large.  He  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions  at  the  St.  Louis  Convention,  and  took  an  active  part  in 
the  discussions  before  that  Committee,  and  the  work  of  the  Conven- 
tion and  in  the  advocacy  of  the  gold  plank  in  the  platform  which  was 
adopted  by  that  Convention.  It  was  in  this  National  Convention  of 
the  Eepublican  party  at  St.  Louis  where  William  McKinley  was 
nominated  for  President,  that  he  supported  Tom  Eeed  for  the 
nomination,  and  when  asked  to  desert  him  and  advocate  president 
McKinley's  nomination  he  is  said  to  have  uttered  the  words  which 
were  quoted  throughout  the  country  "  God  Almighty  hates  a  quitter." 

But  in  none  of  these  campaigns  was  he  more  conspicuous  and 
active  than  in  that  of  188-1,  when,  as  secretary  of  the  National  Eepub- 
lican Committee,  he  did  valiant  service  for  his  old  friend,  James  G. 
Elaine,  from  his  native  State.  Meantime  and  always  he  was  giving 
of  the  best  of  his  time  and  his  abilities  in  the  councils  of  his  party 
in  Connecticut. 

The  old  soldier  ever  has  found  a  warm  friend  in  Comrade  Fess- 
enden  and  his  interest  in  military  affairs  since  the  war  is  constantly 
in  evidence.  In  1872,  he  was  appointed  judge  advocate  with  rank 
of  major,  by  Governor  Jewell,  for  the  fourth  Eegimental  District, 
National  Guard.  He  has  been  for  many  years  a  member  of  the 
G.  A.  E.  and  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  District  of  Columbia  Commandery. 

Mr.  Fessenden  married  Helen  M.  Davenport  on  June  28th,  1873, 
and  until  the  death  of  Mrs.  Fessenden,  Nov.  3d,  1905,  their  home  was 
always  the  center  of  sociability  as  of  earnest  activity.  They  had 
three  children  —  two  daughters,  Helen  G.  Fessenden  and  Content 
Fessenden,  and  one  son,  Gladstone  Fessenden  —  all  of  whom  are 
living  with  their  father  in  the  old  family  home  at  Stamford. 


CHARLES  HENRY  GRAND ALL 

CEANDALL,  CHAKLES  HENEY,  poet,  critic  and  author,  of 
Stamford,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  one  of  New  Eng- 
land's best-known  of  modern  poets  and  scholars,  was  born  in 
Greenwich,  Washington  County,  New  York,  June  19th,  1858,  and  is 
the  son  of  Henry  Sargent  and  Mary  Carmichael  Mills  Crandall,  the 
latter  a  descendant  of  an  old  Scotch  family  of  gentle  blood,  well 
known  in  the  land  of  Bruce  and  Wallace.  On  the  paternal  side  he 
traces  hie  ancestral  line  to  the  Eev.  John  Crandall,  a  Baptist  preacher, 
who  was  a  follower  of  Eoger  Williams  and  a  founder  of  Westerly, 
Ehode  Island,  in  1632.  The  family  in  the  various  subsequent  gen- 
erations has  included  a  good  number  of  preachers,  educators,  ship- 
builders, editors  and  lawyers,  many  of  them  well  known  in  their 
day.  Mr.  CrandalPs  father  was  a  public  official  and  served  his  state 
in  many  important  capacities,  such  as  member  of  the  New  York 
legislature,  assistant  assessor,  internal  revenue  collector,  money  order 
clerk  in  the  New  York  Post  Office  and  as  an  official  in  various  depart- 
ments of  the  New  York  Custom  House.  He  was  a  man  of  marked 
integrity,  a  high  regard  for  law  and  religion,  patriotic,  domestic  and 
capable  in  all  business  matters.  Added  to  the  example  of  such  a  char- 
acter and  conduct  was  the  equally  inspiring  influence  of  a  woman  who 
cared  deeply  for  her  children's  welfare  and  was  their  best  guide  in 
moral  and  intellectual  standards.  She  possessed  rare  gifts  as  a  con- 
versationalist and  letter-writer,  and  much  of  her  son's  grace  of  expres- 
sion is  inherited  from  her. 

Though  not  strong,  the  boy,  Charles  Crandall,  possessed  a  wiry 
constitution.  He  was  nervous  and  sensitive  and  of  a  most  impres- 
sionable and  receptive  mind,  responsive  to  nature's  moods  and  to  all 
the  beauties  of  literature  and  art.  The  outdoor  world  of  the  large 
farm  on  which  he  was  reared  was  the  best  possible  field  for  the  ex- 
ercise of  his  natural  tastes,  and  garden  and  field  work  helped  him  to 
learn  nature's  logic  of  cause  and  effect  in  the  best  possible  way.  He 
had  a  passion  for  doing  things  well  and  began  to  form  scholarly  habits 

196 


CHARLES   HENRY   CRANDALL.  197 

at  a  very  early  age.  He  was  an  ardent  student  of  literature,  history, 
moral  philosophy  and  the  nature  poets,  while  Goethe,  Emerson,  Car- 
lyle,  Wordsworth,  Keats,  Burns,  Bryant,  Whittier  and  Euskin  were 
especially  dear  to  his  mind  and  heart.  He  attended  the  Greenwich 
Academy  and  enjoyed  a  thorough  high  school  education,  but  was 
obliged  to  substitute  private  study  and  reading  for  a  college  course, 
preferring  that  this  should  go  to  an  elder  brother. 

After  spending  the  first  seventeen  years  of  his  life  in  work  and 
study  on  the  home  farm,  and  five  years  in  mercantile  life  Charles 
Crandall  began  his  literary  career  as  a  reporter  for  the  New  York 
Tribune  in  1880.  He  spent  five  years  on  the  staff  of  the  Tribune, 
advancing  from  reporter  to  correspondence  and  editorial  work. 
During  this  time,  in  1883,  he  published  "The  Season "  —  a 
social  history  of  New  York.  Since  1885  he  has  been  a  general  con- 
tributor to  the  Tribune  and  many  other  periodicals  and  has  given  his 
time  to  poetic  composition,  to  the  writing  of  essays  and  stories,  to 
social  studies  and  to  the  editing  of  various  poetical  works.  He  has 
been  chosen  as  the  poet  for  many  occasions  of  patriotic  and  historical 
significance  and  has  frequently  used  his  capable  pen  in  the  behalf  of 
reform  movements. 

Among  the  best-known  fruits  of  Charles  H.  Crandall's  literary 
and  poetic  genius  is  "  Wayside  Music,"  published  in  1893,  a  collection 
of  lyrics,  songs  and  sonnets  of  unusual  grace  and  beauty  that  pro- 
claim him  a  true  lover  of  nature,  a  careful  scholar  and  a  poet  equal 
to  the  highest  tests  of  form  and  feeling.  In  1898  he  published 
"  Chords  of  Life/'  which  contains  many  polished  gems  of  great  beauty 
and  exquisite  feeling.  One  of  his  best-known  works  is  "  ^Representative 
Sonnets,"  published  in  1890,  prefaced  by  a  most  scholarly  and  charm- 
ing essay  on  the  nature  and  history  of  the  sonnet  and  containing  a 
most  catholic  and  well-edited  collection  of  American  sonnets.  In  his 
selections  and  criticisms  he  evinces  keen  judgment  and  delicate  poetic 
sense  as  well  as  thorough,  sane  and  sympathetic  treatment,  and  an 
elegant  yet  simple  and  graceful  style.  It  may  be  added  that  Mr. 
Crandall's  best  work  in  verse  and  prose  is  not  yet  issued  in  book  form. 
Outside  of  his  literary  work  Mr.  Crandall's  time  is  devoted  to  the  pro- 
motion of  local  interests  and  to  home  life  and  the  enjoyment  of  nature 
and  outdoor  life.  He  was  the  first  treasurer  of  the  Stamford  Village 


198  CHARLES   HENRY   CRANDALL. 

Improvement  Society,  a  zealous  worker  in  the  Stamford  Eural  Asso- 
ciation and  a  member  of  the  Stamford  Eepublican  Club.  In  religious 
belief  he  is  an  earnest  Christian,  but  has  no  denominational  affiliation. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  American  Social  Science  Association  and  of 
the  American  Institute  of  Art,  Science  and  Letters.  For  recreation 
he  loves  a  good  horse  and  enjoys  baseball,  tennis  and  walks  over  the 
fields.  His  home  is  at  "Idylland"  on  High  Eidge,  Stamford,  and 
his  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  four  children.  His  first  wife  was 
Katharine  Ferguson,  whom  he  married  in  1884  and  who  died  in  May, 
1890.  The  present  Mrs.  Crandall  was  Mary  Vere  Davenport,  whom 
he  married  in  November,  1891. 

Home  influences  and  the  inspiration  of  the  lives  of  such  men  as 
William  Cullen  Bryant  have  been  Charles  H.  Crandall's  greatest  in- 
centives to  success  in  life.  He  believes  that  men  should  begin  the 
practical  work  of  life  very  early  and  should  cultivate  a  "  downright 
willingness  to  do  your  share  of  the  world's  work,  leaving  it  to  God  to 
pay  off  when  the  day's  work  is  done."  He  adds,  "  Lay  a  continuous 
train  of  pleasant  memories  and  deeds  of  helpfulness  and  it  will  never 
need  but  the  scratch  of  a  match  to  illuminate  your  world."  These 
are  his  closing  lines  of  "  A  Century  Song,"  read  at  the  one-hundredth 
birthday  festivities  of  the  Town  of  New  Canaan : 

"  And  shall  a  grander  race  of  men 

Come  from  the  common  mould  ? 
Shall  life  be  fuller,  love  more  sweet, 

Proof  against  greed  or  gold? 
Hope,  smiling,  gilds  each  common  link 

And  teaches  what  is  best  — 
To  plow  and  sow  as  best  we  know, 

And  God  will  do  the  rest." 


LAWRENCE  SEYMOUR  FORBES 

FOKBES,  LAWKENCE  SEYMOUK,  president  and  treasurer  of 
the  East  Hartford  Manufacturing  Company  and  former  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature,  is  a  life-long  resident  of  East  Hartford, 
Hartford  County,  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born  January  28th, 
1847.  He  is  a  descendant  of  James  and  Catharine  Forbes  who  emi- 
grated from  Scotland  and  settled  in  East  Hartford  in  1658,  and  his 
parents  were  Mahlon  and  Sarah  Lawrence  Forbes.  His  father  was  a 
farmer  who  served  his  town  as  selectman  and  as  a  member  of  Legis- 
lature and  whom  he  describes  as  an  "unassuming  Christian  man." 
Mr.  Forbes  speaks  of  his  mother  as  "  a  good  woman  with  good  in- 
fluences," and  considers  the  character  and  example  of  both  his  parents 
to  have  been  strong  inspirations  in  his  life. 

Books  and  outdoor  sports  were  Lawrence  Forbes'  chief  interests 
in  boyhood,  and  as  he  lived  in  the  country  and  on  a  farm  he  had  more 
opportunity  for  indulging  the  latter  taste.  He  had  his  share  of  farm 
work  to  do,  but  found  it  uncongenial.  For  this  reason  he  eagerly 
accepted  the  first  business  chance  that  offered  and  became  clerk  in  the 
First  National  Bank  in  East  Hartford  in  1864.  He  was  then  but 
seventeen  and  had  had  only  the  educational  advantages  of  the  country 
schools  of  his  home  town. 

Mr.  Forbes  was  successful  at  banking  and  received  promotions  up 
to  the  position  of  teller.  He  was  filling  that  position,  in  1881,  when 
he  decided  to  abandon  banking  and  enter  the  manufacturing  business. 
In  1883  he  became  connected  with  the  East  Hartford  Manufacturing 
Company,  makers  of  high-grade  writing  paper.  He  is  now  president 
and  treasurer  of  this  large  .and  well-known  manufacturing  concern. 
The  company  was  incorporated  in  1865  and  has  a  capital  of  $54,000. 
Its  products  are  of  the  highest  grade  and  are  widely  marketed.  "  East 
Hartford  Linen,"  "  Charter  Oak  Bond,"  and  "  East  Hartford  Ledger," 
have  a  well-established  reputation  for  excellence  and  are  in  general 
use  by  houses  and  individuals  who  require  the  best  stationery.  Paper 

199 


200  LAWRENCE    SEYMOUR   FORBES. 

has  been  manufactured  on  or  near  the  present  site  of  the  company  for 
over  one  hundred  years. 

Next  to  business  Mr.  Forbes'  most  absorbing  interests  have  been 
in  church  and  politics.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Burnside  and  has  held  many  offices  in  that  church,  includ- 
ing those  of  treasurer,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees,  and  steward. 
He  is  a  Eepublican  in  politics  and  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature 
in  1891,  at  which  time  he  served  as  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
finance.  He  is  a  member  and  past  regent  of  the  Koyal  Arcanum. 
For  recreation  he  enjoys  baseball  and  tennis  and  when  younger  was 
active  and  proficient  in  both  these  sports.  His  family  numbers  a  wife 
and  two  children,  Jane  L.,  born  May  8th,  1881,  and  Robert  S.,  born 
June  24th,  1883.  Mrs.  Forbes  was  Fannie  H.  Larkum,  whom  he 
married  on  May  23d,  1877. 


AMON  BRADLEY 

BKADLEY,  AMON,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  prosperous 
citizens  of  Southington,  Hartford  County,  Connecticut,  was 
born  there  February  20th,  1812.  His  father,  Ichabod  Brad- 
ley, was  a  farmer,  and  a  man  characterized  by  economy,  thrift,  per- 
severance, and  integrity,  qualities  which  came  down  to  his  son  and 
made  both  successful  men.  Mr.  Bradley^s  mother  was  Abigail  Moore, 
a  descendant  of  Deacon  John  Moore  who  settled  at  Dorchester,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  his  emigration  from  England  in  1830.  He  was  Deputy 
to  the  Grand  Council.  Among  the  other  American  ancestors  of  Mr. 
Bradley's  family  are  found  Isaac  Bradley,  who  settled  in  Branford, 
Connecticut,  in  1674,  and  the  Eev.  Timothy  Edwards,  the  father  of 
Dr.  Jonathan  Edwards. 

Mr.  Bradley  grew  up  in  the  country  and  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty.  He  attended  the  district 
school  and  village  academy  when  not  busy  on  the  farm.  His  greatest 
interest  as  a  child  was  in  barter  and  trade,  and  his  career  as  a  mer- 
chant grew  out  of  this  inclination.  His  reading  was  centered  on  books 
on  law.  In  his  twentieth  year  Mr.  Bradley  gave  up  his  schooling 
and  farm  life,  and  became  engaged  in  the  business  of  general  mer- 
chandizing in  Southington,  receiving  his  goods  by  canal  and  wagon 
before  a  railroad  was  built  in  Connecticut,  and  he  remembers  well  the 
first  railroad  train  that  ever  passed  through  Southington.  After 
spending  two  winters  in  the  South  he  traveled  as  a  peddler  of  dry 
goods  and  Yankee  notions  through  Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 

In  1835  he  returned  to  mercantile  business  in  Southington,  which 
he  conducted  as  the  firm  of  Amon  Bradley  and  Company  until  1866, 
when  he  retired  from  the  business  which  had  prospered  continuously 
through  his  wisdom  and  energy  as  its  head.  Though  Mr.  Bradley 
devoted  most  of  his  life  to  merchandise,  he  took  active  interest  in 
other  things.  He  represented  the  JStna  Fire  Insurance  Company  of 
Hartford  in  Southington  for  over  forty  years;  he  was  postmaster  of 

203 


204  AMON    BRADLEY. 

Southington  for  twelve  years,  and  town  representative  in  the  Legisla- 
ture in  1863,  1864  and  1866. 

After  retiring  from  the  mercantile  business,  Mr.  Bradley  gave 
his  attention  largely  to  real  estate  which  he  owned  extensively  in 
Southington.  He  did  much  to  develop  the  commercial  interest  of 
his  town,  and  indeed  furthered  its  growth  along  many  important 
lines  during  his  long  and  useful  life.  When  the  Lewis  Academy 
was  erected  he  was  one  of  the  building  committee.  By  his  zeal  and 
enterprise  he,  with  others,  promoted  the  cause  and  secured  the  charter 
of  the  Southington  Savings  Bank,  of  whose  first  board  of  directors  he 
was  a  member,  having  continued  as  such  to  the  time  of  his  death. 

On  October  9th,  1836,  Mr.  Bradley  married  Sylvia  Barnes  of 
Southington,  and  to  them  were  born  three  children:  Franklin  B., 
Alice  B.,  deceased,  and  Emma  M.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Unitarian 
Church  while  it  existed  in  Southington.  In  politics  he  was  a  Demo- 
crat. He  was  a  Freemason,  and  until  his  death  was  the  oldest  living 
member  of  the  fraternity  in  Southington,  having  joined  Friendship 
Lodge  No.  33,  F.  &  A.  M.,  about  1850.  Mr.  Bradley  died  Aug. 
18th,  1906. 


HENRY  HOPKINS  KELSEY 

KELSEY,  REV.  HENRY  HOPKINS,  A.M.,  pastor  of  the 
Fourth  Congregational  Church  of  Hartford,  was  born  in 
Evans  Mills,  town  of  LeRoy,  Jefferson  County,  New  York, 
April  9th,  1853,  and  is  a  descendant  of  William  Kelsey,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Hartford.  He  is  the  son  of  Erastus  S.  Kelsey,  a 
farmer  and  merchant,  esteemed  in  his  day  for  his  honesty  and  faith- 
fulness, and  of  Elizabeth  Sill  Kelsey,  an  admirable  woman  and  mother 
whose  influence  was  a  strong  one  upon  her  son's  mind  and  character. 

A  country-bred  boy,  blessed  with  excellent  health,  Henry  H. 
Kelsey  found  the  activities  of  outdoor  life  both  in  work  and  play  the 
most  interesting  and  helpful  experiences  of  his  youth.  He  did 
"  everything  which  came  to  hand  on  the  farm  "  and  profited  by  it  in 
increased  vigor  and  the  formation  of  industrious  habits.  Though 
there  were  many  difficulties  in  his  way  he  desired  and  received  a 
thorough  education  and  after  preparatory  work  at  the  Academy  in 
Geneva,  New  York,  he  entered  Amherst  College,  where  he  was  grad- 
uated in  1876  with  the  degree  of  B.A.  His  choice  of  a  calling  was 
that  of  the  ministry  and  as  this  preference  coincided  with  parental 
wishes  he  entered  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  as  soon  as  he  left 
college.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Seminary  in  1879  and  the 
following  fall  he  became  an  instructor  there.  In  1879  also  he  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  A.M.  from  Amherst  College. 

After  graduation  Mr.  Kelsey  was  retained  as  an  instructor  and 
assistant  librarian  in  Hartford  Theological  Seminary  until  the  Spring 
of  1882.  He  then  accepted  a  call  to  Boston  to  act  as  assistant  pastor 
of  the  Shawmuh  Congregational  Church.  In  1888  he  came  to  Hart- 
ford as  pastor  of  the  Fourth  Congregational  Church  and  he  has  held 
this  charge  ever  since. 

The  Fourth  Church  is  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  prosper- 
ous down-town  churches  of  the  so-called  Institutional  type  in  the 
country.  Under  Mr.  Kelsey's  pastorate  it  has  been  steadily  prosper- 
ous, having  become  one  of  the  largest  churches  in  the  State.  It  is  a 

205 


206  HENRY  HOPKINS   KELSEY. 

people's  church  —  democratic  and  has  prospered  by  reason  of  the 
executive  ability,  evangelistic  purpose  and  many  sided  activities  of 
the  pastor  and  the  outside  workers  who  have  been  developed  under 
his  ministry. 

Besides  his  duties  in  the  pastorate  Mr.  Kelsey  has  always  been 
at  the  front  in  all  movements  for  civic  betterment.  He  served  also 
as  chaplain  of  the  first  Regiment,  C.  N.  Q.,  for  several  years  and  with 
his  regiment  was  mustered  into  the  U.  S.  Army  of  Volunteers  on  May 
4th,  1898,  and  served  with  them  as  chaplain  to  its  close. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  following  Boards  of  Trustees;  Hartford 
Theological  Seminary,  Hartford  School  of  Eeligious  Pedagogy,  and 
Amherst  College.  He  is  also  Director  for  Connecticut  of  the  Con- 
gregational Home  Missionary  Society  and  a  member  of  its  Executive 
Committee, 

For  recreation  he  prefers  golf  and  fishing.  He  believes  in 
physical  culture  and  has  always  studied  and  practiced  it.  His  home 
is  at  108  Ann  Street,  Hartford.  Mrs.  Kelsey  was  Alice  M.  Miller, 
whom  he  married  November  22d,  1892. 

Mr.  Kelsey  deems  home  and  school  influences  to  have  been  the 
strongest  upon  his  life  and  work.  All  the  powers  of  mind,  body  and 
spirit  are  and  always  have  been  consecrated  to  Christian  stewardship 
and  his  advice  to  others  seeking  the  secret  of  a  successful  life  merits 
earnest  attention.  He  believes  that  "the  man  who  takes  hold  and 
keeps  hold  of  the  thing  that  comes  to  him  to  do  is  the  winner." 


ALBERT  LINDER   POPE 

POPE,  ALBEET  LINDEE,  of  Hartford,  like  all  his  ancestors, 
a  man  of  determination,  energy,  and  high  patriotism,  and 
like  his  father,  Colonel  Albert  A.  Pope,  a  leader  in  the 
industrial  world,  was  born  in  Newton,  Mass.,  on  July  14th,  1872. 
John  Pope,  who  came  from  England  and  was  an  office-holder  among 
the  "  freemen "  of  the  colony  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  in  1634,  was 
the  head  of  the  family  in  America.  His  descendants  of  the  same 
name  included  Dr.  Ealph  Pope,  who  was  town  physician  in  Stough- 
ton,  Mass.;  Colonel  Frederic  Pope,  who  was  a  lieutenant-colonel  in 
the  Eevolutionary  War  and  who  also  served  at  different  times  as 
representative  in  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts;  and  Albert 
Augustus  Pope. 

Albert  Augustus  Pope  in  his  earlier  days  was  a  successful  busi- 
ness man  in  Newton,  Mass.,  one  whose  indomitable  persistency, 
optimism,  breadth  of  view,  and  concern  for  the  general  welfare 
made  him  a  citizen  in  the  fullest  sense.  At  one  time  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  City  Council  of  Newton.  During  the  Civil  War,  he  served 
in  the  Thirty-fifth  Eegiment,  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  and  for  his 
zeal  and  courage  in  the  different  campaigns  was  promoted  through 
all  grades  to  the  rank  of  major,  with  brevet  of  lieutenant-colonel  of 
volunteers  for  distinguished  services.  His  name  to-day  is  best  known 
the  world  over,  perhaps,  as  head  of  the  long-established  and  progres- 
sive Pope  Manufacturing  Company  of  Hartford,  with  its  varied 
products  of  great  worth  and  its  many  branches  in  various  portions  of 
the  country  and  abroad.  His  wife  was  Abby  Lmder. 

The  son,  Albert  Linder  Pope,  spent  his  early  childhood  at  the 
country  home,  where  he  indulged  in  yachting  and  all  healthful  sports, 
developing  a  robust  constitution.  A  thorough,  practical  education 
was  acquired  in  the  Chauncey  Hall  School  of  Boston,  in  King's 
School  of  Stamford,  Conn.,  and  in  Phillips  Exeter  Academy. 

The  wonderful  industries  his  father  was  building  up  had  a 

207 


208  ALBERT   LINDER   POPE. 

strong  attraction  for  the  young  man.  His  ambition,  however,  in 
emulation  of  his  father,  was  to  gain  success  on  his  own  merits  and  to 
be  his  own  master.  With  that  object  in  view,  he  entered  the  mam- 
moth concern  of  the  Pope  Manufacturing  Company  as  an  ordinary 
laborer  with  only  the  development  of  his  own  abilities  to  aid  him. 
The  stern,  practical  training  he  there  received,  in  the  various  depart- 
ments, fitted  him  to  hold  the  important  offices  to  which  he  has  since 
been  elected.  He  is  vice-president,  director,  and  member  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  Pope  Manufacturing  Company;  vice- 
president  and  director  of  the  Pope  Motor  Car  Company;  vice-presi- 
dent and  director  of  the  Columbia  Steel  Company;  vice-president 
and  director  of  the  Federal  Manufacturing  Company;  vice-president 
and  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  National  Association 
of  Automobile  Manufacturers;  director  in  the  American  Wood  Kim 
Company;  director  in  the  Jaynes  Drug  Company,  and  director  in 
the  Connecticut  Steel  and  Wire  Company.  In  the  development  of 
all  these  concerns  which  the  tremendous  industrial  progress  of  the 
age  has  called  into  existence  he  has  played  a  prominent  part  as  a  man 
of  keen  comprehension  of  the  details  of  workmanship  and  of  shrewd 
appreciation  of  the  changeful  requirements  of  the  public.  The 
plants  of  the  Pope  Manufacturing  Company  and  of  the  Pope  Motor 
Car  Company  alone  cover  many  acres  of  ground,  employ  thousands 
of  hands,  and  send  the  best  of  goods  to  the  farthest  confines.  The 
factories  themselves  were  among  the  first  models  for  "homes  of 
industry/'  and  with  the  surprising  changes  that  ingenuity  and  skill 
every  day  are  bringing,  they  still  are  unsurpassed. 

As  may  be  readily  supposed,  his  duties  are  absorbing,  and  yet 
he  finds  time  to  study  the  life  around  him  and  to  help  in  its  better- 
ment. An  evidence  of  this  is  furnished  in  his  position  as  a  member 
of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Welfare  Department  of  the 
National  Civic  Federation. 

Inheriting  with  his  spirit  of  patriotism  and  loyalty  a  fondness 
for  military  affairs,  he  has  given  no  small  portion  of  his  thought 
and  energy  to  the  Volunteer  Militia,  or  National  Guard.  At  the  age 
of  eighteen  (June  17th,  1891),  he  was  enrolled  as  a  private  in  the 
First  Corps  of  Cadets,  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Militia.  After  three 
years  and  a  half  he  was  appointed  to  the  staff  of  Brigadier-General 


ALBERT   LINDER   POPE.  209 

F.  A.  Matthews,  commanding  the  First  Brigade,  as  provost  sergeant, 
from  which  position  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  captain  and  provost 
marshal  of  the  brigade.  His  term  of  service  in  the  Massachusetts 
Volunteer  Militia  covered  nearly  nine  years.  During  his  residence 
in  Hartford,  in  1900,  his  services  were  availed  of  by  the  colonel 
of  the  First  Infantry,  Connecticut  National  Guard,  as  first  lieu- 
tenant and  quartermaster  on  the  staff,  but  pressure  of  business  com- 
pelled him  to  resign,  though  diminishing  in  no  degree  his  desire  to 
see  the  National  Guard  of  the  country  put  on  the  most  efficient  basis. 

In  politics  he  is  a  Eepublican.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Hartford 
Club,  of  the  Engineers'  Club  of  New  York,  of  the  New  York  Com- 
mandery  of  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  of  the  Connecti- 
cut Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Eevolution  (of  which  he  is  a  director), 
and  of  Lafayette  Camp,  No.  140,  of  the  New  York  Division  of  the 
Sons  of  Veterans,  U.  S.  A.  In  Freemasonry  he  is  a  Knight  Templar 
and  a  Shriner. 

He  married  Miss  Amy  Jaynes  of  Boston  on  April  22d,  1896. 
Their  home  is  at  No.  135  Oxford  Street,  Hartford. 


11 


HON.  JOHN    HURLBUT  WHITE 

WHITE,  HON.  JOHN  HUKLBUT,  attorney-at-law  and 
former  judge  of  probate  for  the  district  of  Hartford,  was 
born  in  Glastonbury,  Hartford  County,  Connecticut,  Novem- 
ber 23d,  1833.  He  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Thomas  Hurlbut,  one  of 
the  eleven  men  who  came  from  England  to  New  England  in  1635  with 
Lion  Gardiner,  who  built  and  defended  the  fort  at  Saybrook  during 
the  Indian  disturbances.  Thomas  Hurlbut  was  wounded  in  a  struggle 
with  the  Pequots  in  1637.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen  of  Wethers- 
field,  being  town  clerk,  juror  and  deputy  to  the  General  Court.  Judge 
White's  earliest  paternal  ancestor  in  America  was  James  White,  who 
came  from  England  and  settled  at  Hebron,  Connecticut.  Judge 
White's  parents  were  Eleazer  Sweetland  White,  a  farmer,  who 
represented  his  town  in  the  Connecticut  Assembly,  and  Alma  Hurlbut 
White. 

In  1851,  after  receiving  the  ordinary  academic  education,  young 
Mr.  White  moved  to  Hartford  and  began  reading  law  in  the  office  of 
the  late  Hon.  H.  H.  Barbour.  He  was  admitted  to  the  Bar  at  Hart- 
ford in  March,  1858,  and  began  at  once  to  practice  there.  In  1860 
he  was  made  city  auditor  on  the  Democratic  ticket  and  he  held  this 
office  for  three  years.  Then,  in  1863,  he  was  elected  judge  of  probate 
for  the  district  of  Hartford  and  he  held  this  office  with  recognized 
capability  and  success  for  twenty-three  years,  at  the  end  of  which, 
in  1887,  he  resumed  his  regular  legal  practice.  In  1860  he  became 
a  private  in  the  First  Company,  Governor's  Foot  Guard,  and  exper- 
ienced twelve  years  military  service.  In  1864  he  was  commissioner 
of  the  State  of  Connecticut  to  receive  the  votes  of  the  Connecticut 
soldiers  in  the  field  for  the  presidential  election  of  that  year.  He 
is  now  a  veteran  member  of  the  Foot  Guard. 

The  Judge  is  a  director  in  the  Farmers  and  Mechanics'  National 
Bank  and  in  the  Capewell  Horse  Nail  Company.  He  is  a  trustee  of 
the  Keney  Park  Association  and  a  member  of  the  state  board  of 
Mediation  and  Arbitration.  He  has  been  president  of  the  Connecticut 

210 


JOHN    HDRLBURT   WHITE.  213 

Probate  Assembly.  Since  1858  he  has  been  a  member  of  the  Park 
Congregational  Church  of  Hartford.  On  June  6th,  1860,  Judge 
White  married  Miss  Jennie  M.  Cooke,  who  is  the  daughter  of  George 
Cooke  and  Sarah  (Woodruff)  Cooke  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  and 
paternally  descended  in  the  sixth  generation  from  Col.  Joseph  Wads- 
worth  of  Hartford,  Connecticut.  They  have  one  son,  Henry  White, 
an  artist.  Judge  White  is  well  known  as  a  lawyer  of  exceptional 
acuteness  and  judicial  ability  as  well  as  a  man  of  strong  personality 
and  great  sociability. 


MARCUS   DWIGHT   MARKS 

MARKS,  MARCUS  DWIGHT,  merchant  and  a  leading  Re- 
publican and  citizen  of  North  Haven,  Connecticut,  is  the 
son  of  Marcus  A.  Marks  and  Sarah  Lavinia  Smith  Marks. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  and  town  supervisor  of  Hardenburg,  Ulster 
County,  New  York,  and  he  was  a  volunteer  in  the  Union  Army  and 
died  at  Alexandria,  Virginia.  His  mother  was  a  woman  of  strong 
character  and  noble  influence.  His  paternal  grandfather,  William 
Marks,  was  a  delegate  from  Wallingford  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention in  1818  and  was  a  colonel  in  the  state  militia. 

Born  in  a  log  house  in  the  country  town  of  Hardenburg,  New 
York,  on  March  18th,  1863,  Marcus  Marks  spent  his  youth  as  did  the 
average  farmer's  son  of  his  generation.  He  attended  the  district 
schools  until  he  was  fifteen  and  then  spent  seven  terms  teaching 
school  winters  and  working  on  the  farm  in  the  long  vacations.  He  was 
naturally  studious  and  a  great  reader  and  spent  as  much  time  as  he 
could  spare  from  manual  labor  in  "good,  sound  reading,"  inclining 
particularly  to  political  history.  He  had  to  earn  his  own  way  very 
early  in  life  and  most  of  his  advantages  educationally  and  otherwise 
have  been  of  his  own  hard  earned  acquisition.  To  home  influence, 
private  study  and  contact  with  men  in  active  life  he  ascribes  his  en- 
tire success. 

From  the  age  of  fifteen  until  the  age  of  twenty-seven  Mr.  Marks 
worked  at  farming  and  teaching,  according  to  the  season.  Then,  in 
1890,  he  entered  into  the  general  merchandise  business  with  Joseph 
Pierpont  in  North  Haven,  Connecticut.  He  still  holds  this  business 
connection  and  has  made  North  Haven  his  home  ever  since.  In 
1893  he  married  Sylvia  Elizabeth  Shepherd  and  one  child,  a  daughter, 
Catharine,  has  been  born  of  this  union.  North  Haven  is  not  only 
the  family  home,  but  the  center  of  Mr.  Marks'  many  public  interests 
and  services. 

In  1900,  1902  and  1904  Mr.  Marks  was  elected  chairman  of  the 
Republican  town  committee  of  North  Haven  and  he  still  serves  in  that 

214 


MABCUS  DWIGHT   MAEKS.  215 

capacity.  He  was  unanimously  nominated  and  elected  by  the  joint 
caucus  of  the  Republicans  and  Democrats  of  North  Haven  to  repre- 
sent them  in  the  last  Constitutional  Convention.  He  has  been  pres- 
ident of  the  Village  Improvement  Association  of  North  Haven  for 
three  terms  and  has  been  greatly  instrumental  in  securing  village 
sidewalks  and  many  other  improvements  and  public  conveniences. 
He  was  a  chief  organizer  and  the  first  president  of  the  Citizens'  Benefit 
Association  of  North  Haven  and  is  appreciated  as  a  generous  and 
zealous  promoter  of  every  possible  movement  toward  augmenting 
public  welfare. 

Since  his  first  vote,  cast  for  James  G.  Elaine,  Mr.  Marks  has  been 
a  loyal  and  active  Republican.  In  creed  he  is  an  Episcopalian.  He 
is  a  member  of  the  North  Haven  Grange,  No.  35,  and  of  North  Haven 
Lodge,  No.  61,  A.  0.  U.  W.,  being  secretary  of  the  latter  organiza- 
tion. 

Since  the  above  was  written  Mr.  Marks  has  been  elected  state  rep- 
resentative from  the  town  of  North  Haven. 


WILLIAM   HAWLEY  JUDD 

JUDD,  WILLIAM  HAWLEY,  president  of  the  Getman  and  Judd 
Company,  lumber  dealers  of  Stamford,  and  one  of  the  most 
active  and  progressive  lumbermen  in  Connecticut,  is  also  well 
known  for  his  leadership  in  church  and  public  affairs  in  his  com- 
munity. 

He  was  born  in  Stamford,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  Feb- 
ruary 10th,  1850,  and  is  a  descendant  of  Thomas  Judd,  who  emigrated 
from  England  and  settled  in  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1634. 
Mr.  Judd's  parents  were  Grant  and  Hannah  M.  (Knapp)  Judd,  and 
his  father  was  a  carriage  manufacturer. 

He  received  his  education  in  the  private  schools  of  Stamford, 
and  continued  his  school  work  until  he  was  seventeen,  when  he  en- 
tered upon  a  course  in  civil  engineering,  intending  to  follow  that 
profession.  An  unexpected  business  opening  caused  him  to  abandon 
that  vocation  and  begin  his  life-long  connection  with  the  lumber  busi- 
ness. 

In  March,  1868,  he  began  work  as  a  clerk  for  St.  John  and  Hoyt, 
lumber  dealers  in  Stamford.  Ten  years  later,  in  1878,  Mr.  Judd  was 
admitted  into  partnership  and  the  firm  became  St.  John,  Hoyt  and 
Company.  In  1888,  ten  years  after  Mr.  Judd's  admission  to  part- 
nership in  the  firm,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm,  Mr.  St.  John, 
retired  from  active  business  life,  selling  out  his  interest  to  Charles  H. 
G'etman,  of  Oswego,  New  York,  the  firm  name  being  changed  to 
Hoyt,  Getman  and  Judd. 

Harvey  Hoyt,  of  the  firm,  died  in  1893,  and  Messrs.  Getman  and 
Judd  purchased  the  interest  of  their  late  partner,  the  firm  name  being 
changed  at  that  time  to  Getman  and  Judd.  In  the  spring  of  1897  it 
was  again  changed,  this  time  to  Getman,  Judd  and  Company,  the  cause 
for  the  change  being  the  admission  to  partnership  of  Frank  W.  Bogar- 
dus,  who  for  fifteen  years  had  been  identified  with  the  firm.  In  the 
fall  of  that  year  appeared  another  change  in  the  personnel  of  the  firm 
with  the  death  of  Mr.  Getman.  The  business  was  then  incorporated 

216 


WILLIAM   HAWLEY   JUDD.  219 

under  the  name  of  The  Getman  and  Judd  Company,  with  Mr.  Judd 
as  president.  He  is  also  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  St.  John 
Woodworking  Company,  which  was  originally  a  part  of  the  lumber 
business,  but  was  incorporated  in  1885.  This  company  furnishes 
employment  to  one  hundred  skilled  workmen,  and  affords  ample 
planing  mill  facilities  for  The  Getman  and  Judd  Company. 

As  above  stated,  the  present  business  interests  of  the  gentleman 
referred  to  center  in  two  distinct  companies.  The  Getman  and  Judd 
Company  probably  carries  the  largest  and  most  varied  stock  of 
lumber  of  any  concern  between  New  York  and  Boston.  Its  yards 
extend  over  eight  acres  and  afford  a  convenient  piling  capacity  for 
over  10,000,000  feet  of  lumber.  The  Company's  wharves  have  a  water 
frontage  of  six  hundred  feet  on  the  East  Branch  of  Stamford  Harbor, 
accessible  to  vessels  drawing  fourteen  feet  of  water,  with  railroad 
tracks  running  directly  through  the  yards. 

Mr.  Judd  has  been  actively  identified  with  the  Connecticut  Re- 
tail Lumber  Dealers'  Association  since  its  inception,  having  served  as 
director,  vice-president  and  president. 

He  is  president  of  the  Stamford  Manufacturers'  Association,  a 
director  of  the  Stamford  Savings  Bank  and  of  the  Stamford  Trust 
Company,  is  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  East  Branch  Dock  Corpora- 
tion and  treasurer  of  the  Stamford  Harbor  Improvement  Association. 
The  only  political  office  he  ever  held  was  that  of  burgess  in  1889,  in 
the  then  Borough  of  Stamford. 

The  Episcopal  Church  is  Mr.  Judd's  life-long  religious  home, 
and  he  has  been  a  vestryman  and  warden  of  St.  Andrew's  Church, 
Stamford,  for  twenty-five  years.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  he 
is  a  member  of  the  Republican  Club  of  New  York  City,  the  Stamford 
Yacht  Club,  the  Suburban  Club  of  Stamford,  the  Sons  of  the  Revo- 
lution and  the  Church  Club  of  Connecticut.  Traveling  is  his  most 
pleasurable  and  profitable  relaxation  from  business. 

In  November,  1873,  Mr.  Judd  married  Anna  Moores  of  New 
York  City.  No  children  have  been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judd. 


WILLIAM   BURT  HARLOW 

HABLOW,  WILLIAM  BUKT,  author,  a  resident  of  the  town  of 
Kibbe,  Tolland  County,  Connecticut,  is  a  descendant  of  Ser- 
geant William  Harlow,  who  came  from  the  village  of  Harlow, 
in  Essex  County,  England,  and  settled  in  Plymouth,  Massachusetts, 
in  1638.  The  house  which  Sergeant  William  Harlow  erected  in  Ply- 
mouth in  1644  is  still  standing  and  is  the  oldest  in  that  historic  town. 
Sergeant  William  Harlow  held  various  town  offices  in  Plymouth  and 
was  one  of  its  most  prominent  and  public-spirited  citizens.  William 
Burt  Harlow  was  born  in  Portland,  Cumberland  County,  Maine,  April 
4th,  1856,  the  son  of  William  Harlow,  a  jeweler  and  watchmaker,  and 
of  Julia  Burt  Harlow,  a  direct  descendant  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Nathaniel  Burt.  His  father  was  a  man  of  great  honesty,  industry 
and  patience,  and  his  mother  was  a  woman  of  great  moral  depth  and 
influence. 

When  William  Burt  Harlow  was  a  small  child  the  family  removed 
to  Syracuse,  New  York,  and  it  was  there  he  spent  his  boyhood  and 
acquired  his  education.  He  was  very  frail  physically  and  consequently 
handicapped  in  acquiring  his  education.  He  liked  reading  and  gar- 
dening more  than  any  other  occupation  or  amusement  and  was  espe- 
cially interested  in  Taine's  English  Literature,  Hamerton's  Intel- 
lectual Life,  VirgiFs  ^Eneid,  Milton's  poems  and  Thoreau's  Walden. 
He  was  a  constant  reader  of  the  Bible  in  youth,  as  he  has  been  through- 
out his  later  life.  He  attended  the  public  and  high  schools  in  Syra- 
cuse and  then  entered  Harvard  University,  where  he  received  his  B.A. 
degree  in  1879.  The  following  year,  that  is,  in  1880,  he  became  pro- 
fessor of  English  literature,  composition  and  rhetoric  at  the  Syracuse 
High  School.  He  taught  in  this  school  for  twelve  years,  writing  and 
traveling  when  not  actually  engaged  in  teaching.  In  1880  he  pub- 
lished his  "  Songs  of  Syracuse,"  in  1884  his  "  Early  English  Litera- 
ture from  Beowulf  to  Spenser,"  in  1894  "  Columbia  Eedeemed,"  in 
1898  "  Aunt  Elvira  Abroad,"  in  1900  "  Scenes  Abroad,"  and  in  1906 
"  A  Score  of  Sonnets."  He  has  been  a  constant  and  valued  contribu- 

220 


WILLIAM  BEET   HAELOW.  221 

tor  to  such  well-known  periodicals  as  Science,  Education,  The  Acad- 
emy, the  New  England  Journal  of  Education,  the  Christian  Register, 
and  the  New  York  Tribune.  His  writings  are  characterized  by  depth 
of  thought,  a  keen  and  poetic  sense  of  the  beautiful,  and  high  moral 
standards.  Dr.  Barlow's  love  of  travel  has  taken  him  all  over  this 
country  and  abroad  and  his  descriptions  of  the  places  he  has  visited 
are  delightfully  vivid  and  interesting.  Dr.  Harlow  is  a  true  scholar 
and  his  intellectuality  received  fitting  recognition  when  he  was  given 
the  degrees  of  A.M.  and  Ph.D.  by  Syracuse  University  in  1885.  In 
creed  Dr.  Harlow  is  a  Unitarian.  Aside  from  his  religious  ties  he 
has  no  connections  with  any  organizations,  social,  fraternal  or  politi- 
cal. He  spends  his  leisure  time  in  walking,  boating,  driving  and  gar- 
dening. In  1899  he  married  Gertrude  I.  Morehouse,  by  whom  he  has 
had  two  children.  The  Harlow  home  has  been  at  Somers,  Connecti- 
cut, for  a  number  of  years. 

In  response  to  questioning  as  to  principles  that  may  help  others 
to  succeed,  Dr.  Harlow  gives  a  definite  and  pertinent  answer.  He  says, 
"  Try  to  live  among  men  as  much  as  possible.  Live  out  of  doors  all 
you  can.  Be  a  specialist  if  you  study  and  do  not  waste  four  years 
in  the  regular  college  curriculum." 


JAMES   HENRY  BREWSTER 

BREWSTER,  JAMES  HENRY,  manager  for  the  United 
States  and  Canada  of  the  Scottish  Union  and  National  In- 
surance Company  of  Edinburgh,  Scotland,  and  of  the  State 
Fire  Insurance  Company  of  Liverpool,  England,  is  one  of  the  fore- 
most insurance  men  of  Hartford.  He  was  a  farmer's  boy,  his 
father  being  Henry  A.  Brewster  of  Coventry,  Tolland  County,  Con- 
necticut. His  mother  was  Fannie  S.  Badger.  His  father  was  a  man 
of  highest  worth,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he  was  chosen  at 
different  times  to  every  public  office  in  the  town;  and  he  came  of  a 
long  line  of  worthy  men,  beginning  in  this  country  with  Elder  Wil- 
liam Brewster  whose  mental,  moral  and  physical  power  did  so  much 
to  sustain  Plymouth  Colony. 

James  Henry  Brewster  was  born  in  Coventry,  on  December  24th, 
1845.  The  hearty  farm  life  was  just  what  the  boy  needed  to  build  him 
up  and  give  him  the  constitution  equal  to  his  responsible  positions 
later  in  life.  He  acquired  a  good  education  in  the  schools  of  his  home 
town  and  in  Hartford,  and  at  one  time  taught  school  himself  for  a 
while. 

From  about  the  date  of  his  majority  he  worked  as  clerk  in  the  store 
of  Pease  &  Foster  in  Hartford  for  two  years.  It  was  in  1867,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  that  he  set  his  foot  on  the  bottom  round  of  the 
insurance  ladder.  His  first  position  was  that  of  clerk  in  the  Connect- 
icut Fire  Insurance  Company's  home  office  in  Hartford.  In  six  years' 
time  he  had  won  promotion  to  the  office  of  assistant  secretary  and  he 
was  occupying  that  position  when,  in  November,  1880,  Martin  Ben- 
nett resigned  the  presidency  of  the  Connecticut  Fire  to  become  head 
of  the  United  States  branch  of  the  Scottish  Union  and  National  In- 
surance Company,  a  British  corporation  which  ranks  among  the 
world's  largest  in  fire  insurance.  To  be  strictly  accurate,  he  had 
resigned  a  few  days  prior  to  Mr.  Bennett's  change,  and  was  chosen 
by  Mr.  Bennett  to  accompany  him  to  his  new  field  as  assistant  man- 
ager, their  territory  to  embrace  Canada  as  well  as  the  United  States. 

222 


JAMES   HENRY   BREWSTER.  225 

On  the  death  of  Mr.  Bennett,  with  whom  he  had  been  associated 
for  thirty  years,  Mr.  Brewster  succeeded  to  the  managership,  dating 
from  January  1st,  1900. 

The  task  of  further  developing  a  large  and  successful  business 
came  to  him  unexpectedly,  but  he  was  not  unprepared  for  the  duties 
that  devolved  upon  him.  His  training  stood  him  in  good  stead  and. 
given  a  free  hand,  he  proceeded  to  further  organize,  systematize  and 
promote  both  office  and  field  work  with  the  results  that  today  his 
office  not  only  is  one  of  the  largest,  but  one  of  the  best  conducted  in- 
surance offices  in  New  England.  Withal,  his  business  acumen,  and 
insight,  with  his  quick  interpretation  of  character,  have  given  him 
high  place  in  business  circles  outside  of  insurance. 

Mr.  Brewster  married  Miss  Mary  E.  Folts  on  December  9th,  1879. 
They  have  one  son,  James  Henry  Brewster,  Jr.,  who  is  a  graduate  of 
Yale  College,  class  1904.  Mr.  Brewster  attends  the  Congregational 
Church  and  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity  in  high  standing. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Eepublican,  but  has  never  aspired  to  office.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  leading  social  clubs  of  the  city,  but  practically  the 
whole  of  his  time  is  devoted  to  his  responsible  managerial  position. 


DAVID   ELLSWORTH   PHELPS 

P HELPS,  HON.  DAVID  ELLSWOKTH,  farmer,  judge  of  pro- 
bate, former  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  president 
of  the  Windsor  Creamery  Company,  was  born  in  Windsor, 
Hartford  County,  Connecticut,  February  8th,  1849,  the  son  of  Daniel 
B.  Phelps  and  Phebe  L.  Phelps.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  brick- 
maker  who  furnished  supplies  to  the  American  troops  during  the  War 
of  1812  and  was  an  active  politician.  Judge  Phelps  is  in  direct  line 
of  descent  from  William  and  George  Phelps,  who  came  from  England 
in  1630  in  the  ship  William  and  Mary,  seeking  religious  liberty,  settled 
in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  and  moved  to  Windsor  in  1636.  Josiah 
Ellsworth,  another  ancestor,  came  from  England  in  1654  and  settled 
in  Windsor,  and  Thomas  Barber,  from  whom  Judge  Phelps  also  traces 
direct  descent,  came  from  England  to  Windsor  in  1635.  He  is  also 
descended  from  Thomas  Holcomb,  an  English  emigrant  to  Dorchester, 
Massachusetts,  in  1634,  and  from  Edward  Griswold,  Matthew  Grant, 
Thomas  Moore,  and  Joseph  Loomis,  all  of  whom  came  from  England 
to  Windsor  in  the  decade  between  1630  and  1640. 

David  Phelps  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  and  educated 
in  the  common  schools  of  Windsor.  At  sixteen  he  undertook  the  man- 
agement of  the  farm  and  has  continued  to  manage  it  ever  since.  The 
Windsor  farm  lands  are  some  of  the  finest  in  New  England  and  the 
Phelps  farm  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  prosperous.  Judge 
Phelps  has  been  president  of  the  Windsor  Creamery  Company,  justice 
of  the  peace,  treasurer  of  the  First  School  Society  of  Windsor,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  school  committee  and  of  the  board  of  relief.  Following  his 
father  in  active  and  constant  loyalty  to  the  Eepublican  party,  he  has 
often  been  honored  with  offices  in  the  gift  of  that  party.  In  1887  and 
in  1901  he  was  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  and  in  1902  he  was 
a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention.  Since  1893  he  has  been 
judge  of  probate  for  the  town  of  Windsor.  Though  deeply  and  actively 
interested  in  all  the  business,  educational  and  public  affairs  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  lives,  Judge  Phelps  has  never  affiliated  with  many 


DAVID  ELLSWORTH   PHELPS. 


227 


social  orders.  He  is,  however,  a  member  of  Washington  Lodge,  No. 
70,  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  was  once  past  master  of  that  lodge.  On  June 
17th,  1884,  Judge  Phelps  married  Mary  L.  McCormick  of  Windsor. 
Two  children  were  born  of  this  marriage,  but  one  of  whom  is  living. 


WILLIAM   OSCAR  SEYMOUR 

SEYMOUK,  WILLIAM  OSCAK,  civil  engineer,  member  of  the 
Board  of  Eailroad  Commissioners,  former  State  representa- 
tive and  judge  of  probate  of  Eidgefield,  Fairfield  County, 
Connecticut,  who  was  born  there  October  16th,  1833,  is  a  descendant 
of  Kichard  Seymour,  who  came  to  Hartford  from  England  in  1639 
and  settled  with  his  son  Thomas  in  Norwalk  in  1650.  Matthew  Sey- 
mour, grandson  of  Thomas  Seymour,  was  one  of  the  twenty-five 
persons  who  purchased  the  town  of  Kidgefield  from  the  Indians  for 
one  hundred  pounds,  since  when  that  town  has  always  been  the  family 
home  of  the  Seymours,  who  have  been  widely  respected  for  their  up- 
right citizenship  and  for  their  interest  in  religion,  education,  and 
government.  Mr.  Seymour's  father  was  William  Wells  Seymour,  a 
carriage-maker,  whom  he  describes  as  honest,  industrious,  reliable, 
amiable,  and  religious,  and  who  was  a  deacon  in  the  Congregational 
Church  for  many  years.  Mr.  Seymour's  mother  was  Harriet  Betts 
Seymour,  a  kind  and  saintly  woman,  who  died  when  he  was  but  five 
years  old.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  in  the  country  and  his  early 
life  was  typically  that  of  a  New  England  farmer's  boy  of  that  time. 
After  the  chores  and  duties  peculiar  to  farm  life  had  been  done  his 
place  was  in  the  chimney  corner  preparing  the  lessons  for  the  follow- 
ing day.  He  was  held  responsible  for  a  regular  routine  of  duty,  for 
strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  and  for  regular  attendance  upon 
public  worship.  He  was  fairly  rugged  in  health,  but  cared  more  for 
study  than  for  out-of-door  sports.  He  was  naturally  fond  of  mathe- 
matics, particularly  in  its  application  to  civil  engineering  and  de- 
lighted in  oratory,  history,  and  biography.  He  made  a  special  study 
of  the  history  of  the  settlement  of  our  country  and  the  formation  of 
our  government  and  of  the  biographies  and  noted  utterances  of  public 
men.  He  soon  mastered  the  common  school  branches  and  at  sixteen 
he  began  to  teach,  continuing  to  do  so  until  he  saved  enough  money 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  a  year  at  the  private  academy  in  his  home 
town  and  another  year  at  a  seminary  in  Amenia,  New  York. 

228 


WILLIAM    OSCAR   SEYMOUR.  231 

Beginning  his  career  as  a  teacher  in  New  Canaan,  Connecticut,  in 
1849,  he  taught  in  public  schools  for  six  years,  at  the  end  of  which, 
in  1855,  he  established  a  private  boarding  and  day  school  for  boys  in 
Kidgefield,  which  he  maintained  until  1869,  when  his  health  failed 
from  long  indoor  confinement  and  he  was  obliged  to  find  an  occupa- 
tion which  allowed  of  activity  in  the  open  air.  He  decided  to  engage 
in  civil  engineering  and  was  employed  on  various  public  works  for 
four  years,  when,  in  1873,  he  was  appointed  chief  engineer  of  the 
New  York,  New  Haven  &  Hartford  Kailroad.  He  held  this  position 
until  1881,  when  he  was  appointed  chief  engineer  of  the  Boston 
Hoosac  Tunnel  &  Western  Kailroad,  and  in  1883  he  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  location  and  construction  of  various  extensions  of  the 
Wisconsin  Central  Kailway,  which  occupied  his  time  for  four  years 
and  a  half,  during  which  he  located  and  constructed  extensions  from 
Chippewa  Falls,  Wisconsin,  to  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  one  hundred  and 
four  miles  in  length,  from  Schleisingerville,  Wisconsin,  to  Chicago, 
Illinois,  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  miles  long,  and  from  the  main 
line  into  Gorgebec  Iron  Range  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, forty  miles  long.  In  1887  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  three 
railroad  commissioners  of  Connecticut  and  he  has  been  a  member  of 
that  board  ever  since. 

A  Republican  in  politics,  Mr.  Seymour  represented  Ridgefield  in 
the  General  Assembly  in  1868  and  1869,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention  from  the  town  of  Ridgefield  in  1902. 
From  1892  to  1903  he  was  judge  of  the  probate  court  of  the  district 
of  Ridgefield.  In  creed  he  is  a  Congregationalist.  His  fraternal  con- 
nections are  with  Jerusalem  Lodge,  No.  49,  F.  and  A.  M.  of  Ridge- 
field, of  which  lodge  he  is  past  master.  In  1855,  when  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  Mr.  Seymour  married  Rebecca  Sproull,  daughter  of 
Col.  Thomas  Sproull  and  Jane  Dodge  Sproull  of  Warwick,  New  York. 
They  have  two  daughters,  Mary  Christie  Seymour,  married  to  David 
Law  Jones,  and  Augusta  Dodge  Seymour,  married  to  Howard  D, 
Smith,  both  residing  in  Ridgefield. 


DAVID  I.  GREEN 

GREEN,  DAVID  I.,  A.M.,  S.B.,  Ph.D.,  social  scientist,  educa- 
tor, author  and  scholar,  superintendent  of  the  Charity  Organ- 
ization Society  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  a  prominent 
member  of  educational,  religious,  philanthropic  and  intellectual  clubs 
in  Hartford  and  of  less  local  scope,  is  a  man  whose  calling  in  life 
might  be  truthfully  summarized  as  altruism  of  the  most  practical, 
active  and  progressive  kind.  "  To  help  make  the  world  better  "  has 
been  his  aim  since  boyhood  and  his  life  work  has  been  directed  to- 
ward social  welfare  and  improvement  with  constancy  and  success. 

Among  David  Green's  ancestors  were  three  prominent  colonial 
settlers,  all  of  whom  came  from  England:  John  Green,  who  settled 
in  Kingstown,  R.  I.,  in  1638;  Philip  Sherman,  a  maternal  ancestor, 
who  came  to  Portsmouth,  R.  I.;  and  William  Chandler,  who  came 
to  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  at  about  the  same  time  as  the  first  named. 
His  maternal  grandfather,  David  Sherman,  was  widely  known  for  his 
industry  and  success  as  a  farmer,  for  his  sterling  character,  public 
spirit  and  generosity,  and  was  for  many  years  town  supervisor  and 
postmaster  in  West  Union,  New  York.  Dr.  Green's  parents  were 
John  Chandler  and  Emily  Sherman  Green.  His  grandfather,  Isaiah 
W.  Green,  and  later  in  turn,  his  father,  was  supervisor,  postmaster  and 
leading  merchant  of  Independence,  Allegany  County,  New  York, 
where  David  was  born,  February  5th,  1864.  From  his  father  he  in- 
herited public  spirit,  broad  sympathies  and  generosity  and  from  his 
mother  lasting  spiritual  and  intellectual  strength  and  inspiration. 

When  David  Green  was  eight  years  old,  that  is,  in  1872,  his 
family  removed  to  the  small  college  town  of  Alfred,  New  York.  Be- 
tween the  ages  of  nine  and  eighteen  he  attended  school  only  during 
alternate  terms,  working  the  other  half  of  the  time  in  his  father's 
hardware  store.  The  knowledge  of  practical  affairs  and  of  humanity 
thus  gained  served  in  great  measure  to  make  up  for  the  limited  pre- 
paratory schooling.  At  eighteen  he  entered  Alfred  University,  where 

232 


DAVID  I.   GBEEN.  233 

he  received  his  A.B.  degree  in  1885,  his  A.M.  degree  in  1886  and  his 
S.B.  degree  in  1890.  He  then  took  a  three  years'  post-graduate  course 
at  Johns  Hopkins  University  in  Baltimore,  which  led  to  the  degree  of 
Ph.D.  in  1893. 

Active  professional  work  was  not  delayed  until  his  post-graduate 
education  was  acquired,  but  was  begun  as  soon  as  he  received  his  aca- 
demic degree.  He  was  a  teacher  in  the  West  Nottingham  Academy 
in  Colora,  Maryland,  from  1886  to  1887,  and  in  the  Glenwood  Col- 
legiate Institute  in  Matawan,  New  Jersey,  in  1887-1888.  He  was 
then  called  by  his  Alma  Mater,  Alfred  University,  to  the  chair  of 
Latin  language  and  literature  and  remained  there  for  two  years.  The 
following  three  years  were  spent  in  study  at  Johns  Hopkins  Univer- 
sity and  after  receiving  his  Ph.D.  degree  there  in  1893  he  remained 
at  the  university  for  one  year  as  instructor  in  social  science.  In  the 
autumn  of  1892  he  was  married  to  Mary  Titsworth,  daughter  of  Dr. 
Abel  and  Lucy  Morgan  Titsworth  of  Dunellen,  New  Jersey. 

In  1894  Dr.  Green  came  to  Hartford,  where  he  taught  economics 
and  social  science  in  the  Hartford  School  of  Sociology  for  two  years. 
Since  1894  he  has  been  superintendent  of  the  Charity  Organization 
Society  of  Hartford,  in  which  responsible  office  he  has  a  broad  and 
fitting  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  knowledge  of  humanity  and  social 
science  and  for  the  application  of  his  leading  principle  of  true  and 
active  "  brotherhood."  He  has  been  especially  active  of  late  in  pro- 
moting better  housing  conditions  in  Hartford  and  throughout  Con- 
necticut and  in  furthering  the  anti-tuberculosis  movement.  Since 
1902  he  has  given  occasional  courses  of  lectures  in  social  science  in 
the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 

David  I.  Green  is  a  member  of  the  council  of  the  American  Eco- 
nomic Association,  a  member  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political 
and  Social  Science,  the  American  Statistical  Association,  the  Na- 
tional Conference  of  Charities  and  Corrections,  and  of  the  follow- 
ing Hartford  organizations:  the  Twentieth  Century  Club,  the  Uni- 
versity Club,  the  Congregational  Club,  and  the  Get-Together  Club. 
With  his  wife  and  four  children  he  attends  the  Center  (Congrega- 
tional) Church,  though  he  was  reared  a  Seventh-Day  Baptist  and 
while  teaching  at  Alfred  University  he  was  secretary  of  the  Seventh- 
Day  Baptist  Education  Society.  While  in  Baltimore  he  was  chairman 

12 


234  DAVID  I.   GREEN. 

of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  committee  on  Missions  and  Charities.  In  politics 
he  inclines  to  the  principles  of  the  Kepublican  party,  but  votes  "  in- 
dependently." He  is  the  author  of  various  magazine  articles  on  social 
questions  and  economics  and  of  "  Charities  and  Correction  in  Mary- 
land," 1893. 


WILLIAM  NORTH  RICE 

RICE,  WILLIAM  NOETH,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  educator,  author  and 
lecturer,  professor  of  geology  at  Wesleyan  University  and 
superintendent  of  the  Connecticut  State  Geological  and  Natu- 
ral History  Survey,  was  born  in  Marblehead,  Essex  County,  Massa- 
chusetts, November  21st,  1845,  and  traces  his  ancestry  to  Edmund 
Eice,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  Sudbury,  Massachusetts, 
in  1639.  The  professor's  parents  were  William  and  Caroline  Laura 
North  Bice.  His  father  was  a  clergyman  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  and  was  a  member  of  the  General  Conference  of  that  church 
in  1856  and  in  1876.  He  was  a  man  of  great  breadth  of  intelligence, 
of  progressive  methods  and  general  ability  and  he  occupied  many  high 
places  in  the  educational  as  well  as  in  the  religious  world  about  him. 
In  all  these  positions  he  evinced  great  adaptability  and  efficiency, 
especially  in  his  librarianship  of  the  City  Library  of  Springfield, 
Massachusetts,  and  in  membership  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board 
of  Education.  Most  of  the  professor's  most  characteristic  traits,  how- 
ever, were  inherited  from  his  mother,  for  she  was  his  strongest  mental 
and  moral  influence  and  stimulus. 

The  greater  part  of  William  Eice's  youth  was  spent  in  a  small 
city.  He  prepared  for  college  at  the  Springfield  High  School  and 
then  entered  Wesleyan  University,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1865 
with  the  degree  of  A.B.  In  1867  he  was  graduated  from  the  Sheffield 
Scientific  School  of  Yale  University  with  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  He 
then  became  professor  of  geology  and  natural  history  at  Wesleyan 
University  and  soon  after  taking  that  chair  secured  a  year's  leave  of 
absence,  which  he  spent  abroad  studying  at  Berlin,  Germany.  Upon 
his  return,  in  1868,  he  resumed  his  professional  duties  and  held  the 
same  chair  until  1884,  when  he  became  full  professor  of  the  one  sub- 
ject, geology,  at  Wesleyan.  In  1892  he  again  obtained  leave  of  absence 
for  a  year's  advanced  study  in  Europe.  Meanwhile,  in  1886,  he  had 
been  given  the  honorary  degree  of  LL.D.  by  Syracuse  University. 

285 


236  WILLIAM  NORTH  RICE. 

From  the  first  years  of  his  residence  in  Middletown,  Dr.  Eice  has 
been  identified  with  educational  and  scientific  advancement  in  state 
and  city  fields  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  university.  From  1885  to 
1891  he  was  president  of  the  City  School  District  of  Middletown  and 
since  1903  he  has  been  superintendent  of  the  Connecticut  State  Geo- 
logical and  Natural  History  Survey.  He  is  likewise  a  member  of  the 
State  Board  of  Education.  His  activities  have  had  a  far  wider,  in 
fact,  a  national  scope,  for  in  1892  and  1893  he  was  assistant  geologist 
of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  and  he  maintains  active  mem- 
bership in  the  National  Geographic  Society,  the  National  Educational 
Association,  and  in  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  the  National 
Geological  Society  and  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science.  In  1891  he  was  president  of  the  American  Society 
of  Naturalists.  He  is  also  a  member  and  since  1902  the  president  of 
the  Connecticut  Council  of  Education,  the  Connecticut  Academy  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  the  New  England  Association  of  Colleges  and 
Preparatory  Schools,  and  of  the  Eeligious  Education  Association. 
From  1898  to  1900  he  was  Brooks  lecturer  on  the  relation  of  science 
and  religion  at  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary,  Colgate  University. 
He  has  been  a  member  of  the  New  York  East  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  since  1869  and  chairman  of  the  board 
of  examiners  of  that  body  since  1896. 

As  an  author  Dr.  Eice  is  well  and  favorably  known  among  stu- 
dents of  religion  and  science.  In  1884  he  published  his  first  work, 
"The  Geology  of  Bermuda,"  showing  much  able  research  and  schol- 
arly treatment.  In  1889  he  published  "  Science  Teaching  in  the 
Schools,"  and  in  1903  "  Christian  Faith  in  an  Age  of  Science."  In 
1897  he  edited  the  fifth  edition  of  Dana's  Geology  and  in  1898  he 
edited  "  William  Eice,  a  Memorial."  He  is  also  the  author  of  numer- 
ous and  able  articles  in  scientific,  religious  and  educational  periodi- 
cals and  of  a  work  called  "  Seventy-Five  Years  of  Scientific  Progress 
and  Other  Essays." 

All  this  intellectual  achievement  has  been  balanced  and  made  pos- 
sible by  healthy,  out-of-door  activities  such  as  walking  and  mountain 
climbing,  and  Dr.  Eice  is  an  enthusiastic  member  of  the  Appalachian 
Mountain  Club.  Since  becoming  a  member  of  the  Wesleyan  Univer- 
sity faculty  he  has  made  his  home  in  Middletown,  at  31  College  Place. 
His  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  one  child,  though  two  have  been 


WILLIAM  NORTH  RICE.  237 

born  to  him.    Mrs.  Eice  was  Elizabeth  Wing  Crowell,  whom  he  mar- 
ried in  1870. 

In  polities  Dr.  Eice  is  an  Independent,  and  votes  a  split  ticket 
on  which  Bepublican  names  usually  predominate. 


HARVEY  LOOMIS  ROBERTS 

ROBEETS,  HAEVEY  LOOMIS,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the 
Strong  Manufacturing  Company  of  Winsted,  Litchfield 
County,  Connecticut,  banker,  manufacturer,  ex-member  of 
Legislature,  and  a  man  of  prominence  in  the  business,  political,  edu- 
cational and  religious  affairs  of  his  town,  was  born  near  Winsted.,  on 
October  20th,  1843.  His  first  ancestor  in  America  was  Peter  Eoberts, 
who  settled  in  Windsor,  Connecticut,  where  he  died  in  1752;  through 
him  Mr.  Eoberts  is  descended  from  Welsh  ancestors  who  settled  and 
married  in  France,  whence  they  were  driven  into  Switzerland  by  the 
Eevocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  It  is  believed  that  Peter  Eoberts' 
father  was  among  the  hundred  and  fifty  Huguenots  who  brought 
their  families  to  New  England.  Among  Mr.  Eoberts'  other  paternal 
ancestors  are  names  of  distinction,  such  as  Henry  Wolcott,  Col.  John 
Talcott,  Hon.  Matthew  Allyn,  and  Thomas  Stoughton,  all  well  known 
in  early  Colonial  history.  On  his  mother's  side  Mr.  Eoberts  is  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Joseph  Loomis,  Thomas  Scott,  Begat  Eggleston, 
Jonathan  Gillette,  William  Tuttle,  and  other  early  settlers,  and 
through  John  Drake,  of  a  long  line  of  distinguished  English  ancestry 
stretching  back  to  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest.  Mr.  Eoberts' 
father  was  Nelson  Eoberts,  a  farmer,  teacher,  general  agent  and  dealer 
who  was  several  times  a  representative  in  the  General  Assembly  from 
his  native  town  of  Torrington,  and  once  a  member  from  the  Fifteenth 
Senatorial  District.  He  held  many  town  offices  and  was  a  leader  in 
business  and  educational  affairs.  He  was  a  man  dominated  by  love  of 
home,  country,  law,  and  order,  with  a  keen  sense  of  justice  and  lively 
sympathies, —  qualities  creating  a  legacy  more  precious  than  wealth, 
to  be  transmitted  to  his  children.  He  was  a  forcible  speaker  and  an 
energetic,  careful,  and  successful  business  man.  Mr.  Eoberts'  mother 
was  Charlotte  Loomis  Eoberts. 

A  healthy,  fun-loving  country  boy,  Harvey  Eoberts  was  blessed 
in  his  youth  with  just  enough  work  in  the  way  of  farm  duties  and  tend- 
ing store  and  railroad  station,  to  give  him  a  sense  of  responsibility  and 

238 


HAEVET  LOOMIS  EOBEBTS.  241 

teach  the  necessity  for  regularity  and  promptness.  His  education  was 
that  of  the  common  schools  and  a  short  term  in  a  business  school. 
From  1864  to  1867  he  was  manager  of  the  Baltimore  Condensed  Milk 
Company  at  York,  Pa.  In  1867  he  removed  to  Winsted  and  be- 
came connected  with  the  Strong  Manufacturing  Company,  extensive 
manufacturers  of  coffin  trimmings  and  undertakers'  supplies,  and  one 
of  the  foremost  industrial  concerns  in  Winsted,  as  secretary  and 
treasurer,  which  offices  he  has  filled  continuously  for  nearly  forty 
years.  He  is  also  vice-president  of  the  Mechanics'  Savings  Bank,  a 
director  in  the  First  National  Bank,  in  the  Winsted  Edge  Tool  Works, 
the  Winsted  Gas  and  Electric  Light  and  Power  Company,  a  trustee 
and  secretary  and  treasurer  of  The  Gilbert  School,  chairman  of 
the  School  Board,  and  a  trustee  of  the  Gilbert  Home. 

A  Eepublican  in  political  allegiance,  Mr.  Eoberts  was  repre- 
sentative from  the  town  of  Winchester  in  1871,  and  a  member  from 
the  Fifteenth  Senatorial  District  in  1873.  He  was  postmaster  of 
Winsted  from  1877  to  1885,  and  Presidential  Elector  in  1904.  Fra- 
ternally he  is  a  member  of  St.  Andrew's  Lodge,  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  of 
other  Masonic  societies  of  Winsted,  and  of  the  Clark  Commandery, 
Knights  Templar,  of  Waterbury.  He  is  a  lover  of  all  active  out- 
of-door  sports  and  indulges  in  them  enthusiastically  in  the  intervals 
snatched  from  his  busy  life.  On  the  9th  of  June,  1870,  Mr.  Eoberts 
married  Emily  Perkins  of  Winsted.  No  children  have  been  born  to 
them. 

For  thirty  years  Mr.  Eoberts  has  been  warden  and  treasurer  of 
St.  James'  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of  Winsted,  and  church  in- 
fluences and  interests  have  been  among  the  strongest  of  his  life. 

Although  a  sage  of  old  time  has  cautioned  us  to  call  no  man 
happy  until  his  death,  and  the  word  "success"  has  a  different 
meaning  for  different  people, —  perhaps  always  a  relative  one, —  it 
would  yet  seem  that  to  have  a  high  ideal  and  to  strive  earnestly  to 
approach  it;  so  to  live  as  to  gain  the  respect  of  a  whole  com- 
munity and  the  friendship  of  its  best  citizens;  to  be  held  in 
good  repute  in  a  wide  business  connection,  and  to  be  charged 
with  important  public  trusts;  through  industry,  sobriety,  and  thrift 
to  be  able  to  assist  many  worthy  public  and  private  enterprises;  with 
a  perennial  cheerfulness  and  an  abounding  goodness  of  heart  often  to 
make  sunshine  in  the  shady  places  where  less  fortunate  humanity 


242  TTARVEY  LOOMIS  EOBEBTS. 

has  its  daily  walk;  —  surely  it  would  seem  that  these  things  count 
much  for  what  we  call  success  in  life,  not  in  the  material  aspect  only, 
but  in  its  higher  and  more  gracious  significance.  It  is  to  such  suc- 
cess and  happiness  that  we  consider  that  Mr.  Eoberts  has  attained; 
the  lesson  of  his  life  is  the  simple  old  one  that  he  who  runs  may  read : 
—  "to  learn  and  labor  truly  to  get  mine  own  living  and  to  do  my 
duty  in  that  state  of  life  unto  which  it  shall  please  God  to  call  me." 


MONROE   FAYETTE   LATHAM 

LATHAM,  MONKOE  FAYETTE,  fanner,  millwright,  former 
state  representative  and  senator  and  ex-postmaster  of  Phoanix- 
ville,  Eastford,  Windliam  County,  Connecticut,  where  he  was 
born  January  3d,  1843,  is  a  descendant  of  William  Latham,  a  youth- 
ful passenger  in  the  Mayflower  in  1620.  William  Latham  was  a  resi- 
dent of  Duxbury,  Massachusetts,  in  1637,  afterwards  becoming  a  sea 
captain  and  dying  in  the  Bahamas.  His  son,  Kobert  Latham,  was  a 
constable  at  Marshfield  in  1643  and  married  a  daughter  of  the  historic 
couple,  John  Winslow  and  Mary  Chilton.  Another  ancestor,  Cary 
Latham,  was  prominent  in  New  London  in  1664  and  was  a  deputy  to 
the  General  Court  about  that  time.  Mr.  Latham's  father,  Joseph 
Burden  Latham,  was  an  expert  millwright,  a  captain  of  militia  and  a 
staunch  Eepublican,  who  held  many  offices,  including  those  of  select- 
man, justice  of  the  peace,  and  state  representative.  His  marked  char- 
acteristics were  thoroughness  and  persistence,  sound  common  sense 
and  a  plain,  outspoken  manner.  Mr.  Latham's  mother  was  Percy 
Keyes  Bullard  Latham,  a  woman  of  strong  and  admirable  character, 
whose  influence  for  good  was  one  of  the  strongest  ever  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  son's  character  and  conduct  and  whose  wishes  were  the  chief 
factors  in  determining  his  choice  of  a  life  work.  As  long  as  she  lived, 
that  is,  until  he  was  forty  years  old,  Mr.  Latham  remained  at  home 
working  on  his  father's  farm  and  at  his  father's  trade  of  millwright. 
He  learned  the  millwright's  trade  in  early  youth  and  showed  a  marked 
interest  in  that  and  in  farming.  Beyond  the  education  of  the  common 
schools  of  Phoenixville  his  training  was  that  of  practical  experience. 

Aside  from  the  management  of  a  large  farm,  saw  mill  and  grist 
mill  and  the  various  mechanical  labors  of  a  millwright,  Mr.  Latham's 
time  has  been  occupied  with  the  performance  of  public  services.  Since 
1880  he  has  been  selectman  of  Eastford  and  at  different  times  he  has 
been  assessor,  justice  of  the  peace,  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  relief. 
From  1884  to  1896  he  was  postmaster  of  Phoanixville.  In  1884  he  was 
elected  state  representative  and  during  his  term  of  office  he  served  on 

243 


244  MONROE  FAYETTE  LATHAM. 

the  committee  on  fisheries  and  game.  In  1896  he  was  elected  state 
senator  and  during  this  term  in  the  Legislature  he  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  agriculture.  In  1902  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention.  Like  his  father  he  has  been  a  lifelong  and 
influential  Eepublican  and  has  had  many  honors  in  the  gift  of  that 
party.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church,  of  Crystal  Lake 
Grange,  No.  60,  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  and  of  Pomona  Grange. 
Of  the  last  named  he  is  master  secretary  and  a  most  prominent  mem- 
ber. He  is  chairman  of  the  Eastford  Town  Library  Association  and 
a  director  of  the  Eastford  Creamery.  Fishing  and  hunting  are  his 
favorite  sports  and  forms  of  recreation. 

Mr.  Latham's  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  two  sons.  Mrs. 
Latham's  maiden  name  was  Sarah  M.  Johns  and  their  marriage  took 
place  March  22d,  1881.  Home  is  and  always  has  been  the  chief  influ- 
ence and  interest  of  Mr.  Latham's  life. 


ADRIAN   JAMES   MUZZY 


MUZZY,  THE  HON.  ADEIAN  JAMES,  one  of  Bristol's  lead- 
ing merchants,  was  born  January  24th,  1851.  He  is  de- 
scended from  men  who  played  a  prominent  part  in,  the  early 
history  of  this  country.  Among  them,  Eobert  Muzzy  of  England  was 
a  freeman  in  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  in  1634.  The  Balls  of  Spencer. 
Massachusetts,  were  of  the  same  family  in  England  as  the  mother  of 
Washington.  Then  there  were  Eichard  Dexter,  Boston,  1642; 
Bartholomew  Green,  Cambridge,  1634;  Thomas  Langhorne,  Cam- 
bridge, 1644;  Henry  Glover,  New  Haven,  1647;  Eichard  Baldwin, 
Milford,  1639;  the  Eev.  Adam  Blackman,  first  minister  in  Stratford; 
Moses  Mansfield,  New  Haven,  1639;  Timothy  Mix,  Bristol,  1725, 
and  a  number  of  others  whose  names  are  familiar  in  the  present  gen- 
eration. The  "  Common  "  upon  which  the  battle  of  Lexington  was 
afterward  fought  was  originally  the  property  of  Benjamin  Muzzy, 
whose  name  with  John  Hancock  appears  as  witness  to  a  will  pre- 
served in  Lexington  Museum.  Four  of  the  Muzzy  family  were  in  the 
skirmish  at  Lexington,  and  the  name  of  one  of  them,  Isaac,  appears 
on  the  memorial  stone  in  the  list  of  the  eight  men  killed  that  day  by 
the  British.  Deacon  John  Muzzy  was  on  the  Committee  of  Corre- 
spondence throughout  the  Eevolution.  Joseph  Byington,  another 
ancestor,  was  one  of  the  Minute  Men  who  responded  to  the  Lexington 
alarm  and  became  a  lieutenant,  serving  in  various  capacities  during 
the  war.  Joshua  Atwater  signed  the  Plantation  Covenant  in  New 
Haven  in  1639;  he  was  representative,  assistant  and  treasurer  of  the 
Colony.  Eobert  Lane  was  in  the  Colonial  Assembly  from  1699  to 
1715  and  deputy  to  the  Court  of  Election.  Several  other  ancestors 
were  members  of  colonial  legislative  bodies,  while  Moses  Mansfield 
was  assistant  governor  of  the  Connecticut  Colony  in  1690-1701,  as- 
sistant judge  of  probate,  judge  of  county  court,  and  major  in  the 
militia.  Mansfield  was  also  a  captain  in  the  Indian  Wars,  and  for 
his  services  received  a  large  grant  of  land  afterward  called  Mansfield 
in  his  honor. 

245 


246  ADRIAN   JAMES   MUZZY. 

Mr.  Muzzy's  father,  Henry  Isaac  Muzzy  of  Bristol,  was  a  lumber 
dealer  and  farmer  and  held  minor  local  offices.  He  was  a  man  of 
determination  and  sound  sense.  His  wife  was  Mary  Elizabeth  Beach, 
who  exerted  strong  moral  influence  over  her  son.  As  influences  upon 
him  in  his  character,  Mr.  Muzzy  places  first,  contact  with  men  in 
active  life,  and  second,  private  study.  He  is  a  careful  reader,  particu- 
larly of  biography,  history,  and  of  political  writings,  having  the 
ordinary  education  of  his  day. 

Leaving  home  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  in  1868,  he  worked  for  a 
year  in  a  Bristol  factory;  then  a  year  as  a  clerk  in  a  drygoods  store, 
and  then  entered  upon  business  for  himself.  From  1870  to  1876 
he  was  a  grain  dealer;  from  1873  to  1876  also  partner  in  a  clothing 
and  gentlemen's  furnishing  store;  from  1876  to  1906  he  conducted  a 
drygoods  and  house  furnishing  establishment.  He  is  now  engaged  in 
real  estate  and  invesments,  and  his  business  interests  are  much  greater 
even  than  is  evidenced  by  his  own  commercial  enterprise.  He  has  been 
president  of  the  Masonic  Building  Company  since  1892 ;  he  was  chief 
promoter  of,  and  is  secretary  and  a  director  in  the  Bristol  &  Plainville 
Tramway  Company,  since  1895;  was  a  director  in  the  Bristol  Press 
Publishing  Company,  director  in  the  New  Britain  Hospital;  an  ia- 
corporator  of  the  Bristol  Savings  Bank ;  clerk  of  Trinity  Parish  more 
than  twenty  years,  president  of  the  Bristol  Business  Men's  Association, 
1902-1904;  president  of  of  the  State  Business  Men's  Association, 
1903  and  1904;  president  of  the  Bristol  Old  Home  Week  Association, 
1903;  superintendent  of  the  West  Cemetery  Association  for  ten 
years  from  1881,  etc.,  etc. 

In  1891  and  1897  he  was  representative  from  his  town,  and  in 
1899  was  senator  from  the  Fourth  District.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Trinity  Episcopal  Church  in  Bristol.  Of  the  fraternities,  he  be- 
longs to  Franklin  Lodge,  A.  F.  and  A.  M. ;  Pequabuck  Chapter, 
E.  A.  S.;  the  Eoyal  Arcanum;  0.  0.  F.;  and  the  Eed  Men.  He  has 
membership  in  the  Connecticut  Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  American 
Eevolution  and  in  the  New  Britain  and  Bristol  Social  Clubs.  Amuse- 
ment and  recreation  he  finds  in  wicket,  driving,  golf,  cards,  and  read- 
ing. 

His  wife  is  Florence  E.  Downes,  whom  he  married  on  May  22d, 
1873.  They  have  had  three  children,  but  one  of  whom  is  living  — 
Adrienne  Florence  Muzzy —  Wellesley  College,  1905. 


ALBERT  FENIMORE  ROCKWELL 

ROCKWELL,  ALBEET  FENIMORE,  inventor  and  president 
of  the  New  Departure  Manufacturing  Company  of  Bristol, 
Connecticut,  and  one  of  the  leading  manufacturers  in  Con- 
necticut, was  born  in  Woodhull,  Steuben  County,  New  York,  April 
8th,  1862,  the  son  of  Leander  Eockwell,  a  farmer  and  merchant, 
and  Fidelia  Locke  Rockwell.  The  family  is  of  Norman  origin  and 
the  American  branch,  to  which  Mr.  Eockwell  belongs,  was  founded 
by  John  Rockwell,  who  emigrated  from  Dorchester,  England,  to 
Stamford,  Connecticut,  about  1640. 

In  boyhood  Albert  Rockwell  was  robust  and  ambitious  and  his 
early  life  spent  on  a  farm  or  in  a  village  afforded  ample  opportunity 
for  the  exercise  of  his  physical  vigor  and  energy.  He  had  but  scanty 
"  book  education  "  which  consisted  of  public  school  courses  in  Morris, 
Illinois,  and  terminated  when  he  was  but  thirteen.  He  was  intensely 
interested  in  the  study  of  mechanics  and,  though  he  had  little  time 
for  reading,  he  managed  to  glean  much  knowledge  along  this  special 
line  of  work.  At  thirteen  he  went  to  work  in  the  notion  department 
in  Field,  Leiter  and  Company's  dry  goods  store  in  Chicago,  where  he 
remained  for  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  went  to  Florida  and 
engaged  in  "clearing  land,  splitting  rails  and  digging  stumps"  and 
a  variety  of  carpenter  work.  From  seventeen  to  twenty  he  managed 
a  country  store  and  this  occupation  was  followed  by  two  years  in 
the  fruit  business  and  four  years  in  the  hardware  business  in  Florida, 
which  he  gave  up  on  account  of  the  frosts  and  yellow  fever. 

From  his  twenty-sixth  year  to  the  present  time  Mr.  Eockwell 
has  been  engaged  in  manufacturing.  After  leaving  the  South  he 
came  to  Connecticut  and  soon  became  identified  with  manufacturing 
interests  in  Bristol.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  New  Departure 
Company,  which  was  started  in  1889  and  incorporated  in  1890. 
This  Company  has  grown  with  wonderful  rapidity,  till  to-day  they 
turn  out  the  largest  quantity  of  goods  in  their  line  of  any  plant  in 
the  world,  and  market  their  goods  in  every  civilized  country.  They 

249 


250  ALBEET    FENIMORE    ROCKWELL. 

have  a  branch  factory  in  Germany  and  selling  and  advertising  de- 
partments in  Bristol,  New  York,  Berlin,  London,  and  Copenhagen. 
Mr.  Kockwell  has  held  office  since  its  organization  and  is  now  pres- 
ident of  this  large  and  progressive  corporation.  During  his  con- 
nection with  manufacturing  interests  his  mechanical  genius  has  borne 
abundant  fruit,  for  he  has  taken  out  a  large  number  of  patents  for 
mechanical  inventions  of  great  utility  and  practical  value. 

Mr.  Kockwell  has  supported  himself  without  any  aid,  parental 
or  otherwise,  since  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age  and  has  met  with  real 
and  well  earned  success.  His  ability  as  a  mechanic,  as  an  industrial 
and  financial  manager  and  his  ingenuity  as  an  inventor  place  him  in 
the  front  rank  of  the  progressive  manufacturers  of  to-day.  He  is 
a  "  self-made  man "  in  the  best  sense  of  the  phrase  and  his  high 
place  in  industrial  life  is  of  his  own  winning.  To  others  he  says, 
"  Stand  well  with  yourself.  Keep  the  mind  in  condition  to  find 
useful  lessons  in  every  day's  work  and  don't  allow  yourself  to  get 
inflated  by  seeming  success." 

Since  the  above  was  written,  Mr.  Kockwell  has  been  elected 
state  representative  from  Bristol. 


EDWIN   BROWNSON   EVERITT 

EVERITT,  EDWIN  BROWNSON,  secretary  of  the  C.  F.  Mon- 
roe Company,  novelty  manufacturers,  of  Meriden,  Connecticut, 
and  a  prominent  Republican,  Mason,  and  musician  of  that  city, 
was  born  in  Watertown,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  October  6th, 
1835.  His  family  is  of  English  origin  and  has  been  well  represented 
in  New  England  for  over  two  centuries.  His  grandfather,  Abner 
Everitt,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution.  Mr.  Everitf  s  parents  were 
Abraham  and  Sarah  C.  Stone  Everitt  and  his  father  was  president  of 
the  Watertown  Manufacturing  Company,  a  man  active  in  religious 
and  fraternal  interests  and  honored  for  his  sagacity,  broad  minded- 
ness  and  sociability.  The  mother  was  a  woman  of  strong  character 
and  her  influence  upon  her  son  was  correspondingly  good. 

The  public  schools  and  academy  of  Watertown  furnished  Mr. 
Everitfs  early  education  and  at  twenty  he  left  school  to  become  clerk 
in  a  jewelry  store  in  Hartford.  He  soon  left  this  occupation  and 
returning  to  Watertown,  taught  school  there  for  several  terms.  He 
became  interested  in  photography  and  engaged  in  that  art  at  Water- 
bury,  but  ill-health  forced  him  to  change  occupation  again  and  as 
soon  as  he  was  able  he  became  connected  with  the  insurance  business 
as  agent  for  the  Continental  Life  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford. 
As  an  insurance  man  he  won  rapid  success  and  was  soon  made  general 
agent  of  the  company  for  Eastern  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island. 
Though  so  successful  in  this  line  of  work  he  inherited  from  his  father 
an  interest  in  and  aptitude  for  manufacturing  and  in  a  few  years  he 
accepted  a  clerical  position  with  the  Meriden  Britannia  Company 
which  he  held  for  more  than  twenty-five  years.  He  is  also  Secretary 
of  the  C.  F.  Monroe  Company  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  novel- 
ties. 

In  politics  Mr.  Everitt  is  an  unswerving  Republican  and  he  has 
been  chairman  of  the  Republican  Town  Committee  of  Meriden.  He 
is  most  active  and  zealous  in  church  work  and  is  a  deacon  of  one  of  the 
leading  Congregational  churches  of  his  city.  He  uses  his  musical 

251 


252  EDWIN  BEOWNSON  EVERITT. 

knowledge  and  talent  in  connection  with  the  church  and  has  been 
organist  and  choir  master  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  He  is  promi- 
nent in  many  social  orders,  including  the  Home  Club,  Federal  Lodge, 
A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  the  Knights  Templar,  having  been  Prelate  for 
many  years.  In  Masonry  he  has  attained  to  the  thirty-second  degree. 
He  has  no  children.  Mrs.  Everitt  was  Mary  A.  Thompson  of  Otis, 
Massachusetts. 


EDWIN  DWIGHT   GRAVES 

G  EAVES,  EDWIN  DWIGHT,  civil  engineer,  is  a  descendant 
of  one  of  Hartford's  oldest  families,  the  members  of  which 
removed  to  Massachusetts  and  then  to  Maine,  and  now  Mr. 
Graves  is  back  in  the  place  of  their  first  settlement  in  America,  doing 
good  work,  as  they  did  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.    The  Graves 
family  in  England  is  among  the  most  ancient,  and  members  of  it  have 
held  high  places  of  honor  and  distinction.    The  first  to  come  to  this 
country  was  Thomas  Graves,  accompanied  by  four  sons  and  one  daugh- 
ter, all  adults. 

The  family  located  in  Hartford  and  in  Wethersfield  prior  to 
1645,  and  it  is  quite  worthy  of  note  that  they  were  engaged  in 
surveying  and  general  engineering  work.  Never  could  they  have 
dreamed,  however,  of  the  tremendous  engineering  project  which  would 
be  under  the  charge  of  their  descendant  in  this  identical  township  in 
1906.  Thomas  Graves  was  a  man  of  rather  unyielding  convictions. 
He  had  come  to  America  for  conscience's  sake  and  he  could  not  here 
compromise  with  anything  which  did  not  meet  his  ideas  of  propriety. 
After  a  few  years  there  occurred  a  schism  in  Thomas  Hooker's  First 
Church  of  Christ  (the  first  in  Connecticut),  with  infant  baptism  as 
the  cause  of  it.  The  Graves  family  could  not  accept  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  the  ungodly  latitude  that  was  developing  in  the  local 
church.  Accordingly,  in  1661,  all  except  one  son,  Nathan,  packed 
their  goods  on  ox-carts,  abandoned  their  houses  and  lands,  and 
marched  to  Hatfield,  Massachusetts,  where  they  were  prominent  for 
many  years  thereafter.  Isaac,  son  of  Thomas,  and  direct  ancestor  of 
Edwin  D.  Graves,  was  killed  by  the  Indians,  together  with  his  brother, 
John,  in  an  attack  made  on  Hatfield  September  19th,  1677.  After  the 
slaughter  of  Deerfield  people,  two  years  before,  the  Graves'  and  other 
families  of  Hatfield  had  surrounded  their  settlement  with  a  stockade, 
but  on  this  eventful  September  day  Isaac  and  John  had  gone  outside 
the  stockade  to  work  upon  a  new  house.  Eight  others  were  killed  in 
this  attack. 

13  253 


264  EDWIN  DWIGHT  GEAVE8. 

Descendants  of  the  family  removed  to  Belchertown,  Massachu- 
setts, and  then  to  Maine,  where,  in  the  village  of  Orono,  Mr.  Graves 
was  born  on  October  5th,  1865.  One  of  his  ancestors,  Joseph,  was  a 
lieutenant  in  the  army  during  the  Eevolutionary  War.  Mr.  Graves' 
father  was  Perez  Boardman  Graves,  a  carpenter,  and  his  mother  was 
Abbey  M.  (Colbourn)  Graves,  who  exerted  a  strong  influence  on  the 
mental  and  moral  development  of  her  two  sons.  Plain,  homely, 
country  life  promoted  at  one  and  the  same  time  the  boy's  physical 
constitution  and  his  knowledge  of  what  work  meant  and  of  how  to 
overcome  obstacles.  Patiently  he  pursued  the  course  he  had  chosen 
for  himself  till,  working  his  own  way,  he  had  graduated  from  the 
University  of  Maine  with  the  class  of  1886  and  could  see  his  way 
clear  for  the  profession  of  civil  engineering.  In  1884,  two  years  be- 
fore graduation,  he  had  tried  his  hand  at  it,  on  railroad  surveys,  and 
with  results  that  encouraged  him.  After  graduation  he  continued  his 
studies  as  a  member  of  the  American  Society  of  Civil  Engineers. 

Some  of  his  more  important  work  has  been  the  surveying  for 
the  Canadian  Pacific  Kailway  from  Moosehead  Lake,  Mattawamkeag, 
as  engineer  of  the  Somerset  Kailway  Company,  and  as  engineer  for 
the  Berlin  Iron  Bridge  Company  of  East  Berlin,  Connecticut,  whose 
wonderful  engineering  achievements  brought  it  world-wide  fame. 
When  the  great  problem  of  bridging  the  Connecticut  Eiver  at  Hart- 
ford confronted  the  public,  after  the  burning  of  the  century-old 
wooden  bridge  in  1895,  a  combination  of  towns  directly  affected  was 
formed  under  the  title  of  the  Connecticut  Eiver  Bridge  &  Highway 
District,  with  power  from  the  Legislature.  There  was  no  other  bridge 
for  general  traffic  between  Middletown  and  Springfield,  Massachusetts, 
and  all  the  great  tide  of  business  between  east  and  west  in  Northern 
Connecticut,  except  by  steam  road,  must  be  over  the  proposed  struc- 
ture. The  questions  which  arose  were  troublesome  and  the  import- 
ance of  securing  a  thoroughly  competent  engineer  first  of  all  was  ap- 
parent to  the  commission  acting  for  the  district,  of  which  ex-Gov- 
ernor Morgan  G.  Bulkeley  was  chairman.  If  there  could  be  surety 
that  the  bridge  would  be  what  it  should  be,  the  funds  would  be  readily 
forthcoming.  Mr.  Graves  was  chosen  for  the  responsible  position. 
Under  his  direction  the  largest  stone  arch  bridge  in  the  world  is  near- 
ing  completion,  and  in  addition  a  boulevard  on  the  Hartford  side,  the 
construction  of  which  involved  the  removal  of  blocks  of  houses  and 


EDWIN  DWIGHT  GRAVES.  255 

the  regrading  of  streets  and  railways  in  a  densely  settled  part  of  the 
city.  The  cost  of  the  bridge  and  the  Hartford  approach  will  be  not 
less  than  $3,700,000.00.  It  is  the  greatest  piece  of  engineering  ever 
undertaken  in  Connecticut  and  it  excites  the  admiration  of  the  many 
experts  from  all  parts  of  America  and  Europe  who  came  here  to  see  it. 

Mr.  Graves  is  a  Eepublican  in  politics  and  is  a  member  of  that 
old  First  Church  of  Christ  to  which  his  ancestors  belonged.  He  is 
fond  of  golfing  and  of  country  and  seaside  recreation  and  a  firm  be- 
liever in  systematic  physical  culture.  He  is  a  member  of  the  college 
fraternity  of  Beta  Theta  Pi  (Beta  Eta  Chapter),  of  the  Engineers' 
Club  of  New  York  City,  of  the  Hartford  Club,  the  Hartford  Golf 
Club,  the  Republican  Club  of  Hartford,  and  of  the  Hartford  Board  of 
Trade. 

He  married  Maybelle  Parlin  of  North  Anson,  Maine,  on  October 
5th,  1890.  They  have  two  children.  Their  home  is  at  No.  75  North 
Beacon  street,  Hartford. 


HENRY  BYRON  NOYES. 

NOTES,  HENEY  BYRON,  banker,  of  Mystic,  was  born  in 
Old  Mystic,  New  London  County,  Conn.,  January  15th,  1837. 
He  is  the  son  of  George  W.   Noyes  and  Prudence  Dean 
(Brown)  Noyes.     His  father  was  a  bank  cashier  in  Mystic  and  his 
ancestors  were  English.     The  Eev.  James  Noyes  emigrated  from 
England  in  1634,  and  settled  in  Newbury,  Mass.,  and  his  son,  likewise 
a  Eev.  James  Noyes,  came  to  live  in  Stonington,  Conn.    He  was  one 
of  the  founders  and  a  trustee  of  Yale  College. 

Mr.  Noyes'  early  life  was  uneventful.  He  attended  the  district 
school  until  he  was  fifteen  years  old  and  then  went  for  one  year  to 
the  Mystic  Academy.  His  father  then  needed  his  help  in  the  bank 
of  which  he  was  cashier,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  young  Henry 
began  the  active  work  of  life  in  an  occupation  which  he  has  continued 
ever  since.  Possessed  of  a  natural  industry  and  impelled  by  a  strong 
desire  to  prosper,  he  has  succeeded  in  his  career.  At  the  death  of 
his  father  in  1866,  he  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  as  cashier  of  the 
Mystic  River  National  Bank,  a  position  which  he  still  holds.  Later 
he  became  treasurer  of  the  Groton  Savings  Bank,  and  since  1875 
he  has  been  its  president.  He  is  likewise  trustee  and  treasurer  of 
the  Elm  Grove  Cemetery  Association,  trustee  of  the  Mystic  Oral 
School  for  the  Deaf  since  its  incorporation,  and  director  of  the 
Mystic  Industrial  Company.  He  has  always  been  a  member  of  the 
Republican  party  and  in  1871  he  represented  the  town  of  Stonington 
in  the  State  Legislature.  Since  1880  he  has  been  clerk  of  the  Mystic 
Bridge  Congregational  Society. 

In  1870  he  was  married  to  Ellen  Holmes;  they  have  had  one 
child.  Mr.  Noyes  attends  the  Congregational  Church  of  Mystic.  His 
favorite  form  of  amusement  and  recreation  is  reading  and  traveling. 
His  life  has  been  one  of  constant  progress  and  usefulness  to  his  com- 
munity. The  high  moral  and  spiritual  side  of  it  is  due  to  the  early 
influence  of  his  mother;  the  influence  of  his  home  and  of  his  compan- 
ions aided  in  building  up  his  character,  but  his  strongest  incentive 
to  succeed  was  derived  from  personal  contact  with  active  and  pros- 
perous business  men. 

256 


JOHN  AUGUSTUS   PAINE 

PAINE,  JOHN  AUGUSTUS,  was  born  at  Woodstock,  Windham 
County,  Connecticut,  March  13th,  1850,  the  son  of  Martha  and 
Lucia  J.  (Perrin)  Paine.  His  earliest  ancestor  in  America, 
Stephen  Paine,  of  Norfolk,  England,  was  one  of  the  heroic  band  who 
emigrated  on  the  little  ship  "  Diligent "  from  the  Mother  Country  and 
settled  in  Connecticut  in  the  year  1638.  The  line  of  descent  is 
through  Captain  Isaac  Paine  of  Scituate,  Ehode  Island,  who  served  in 
the  Revolution,  and  married  Hannah  Williams,  great-granddaughter  of 
Eoger  Williams.  Mr.  Paine  is  fourth  in  line  of  descent.  The  father 
of  John  A.  Paine  was  a  prosperous  farmer  of  Windham  County,  a 
man  of  strict  adherence  to  principle  and  duty. 

Mr.  Paine's  early  life  was  spent  in  the  country  on  his  father's 
farm,  where  the  hard  manual  labor  and  out-of-doors  life  laid  the  foun- 
dation for  a  vigorous  and  useful  manhood.  His  education  was  ac- 
quired in  the  grammar  school  and  Academy  of  Woodstock.  After 
teaching  school  for  one  term  in  his  native  town  he  entered  the  employ 
of  John  0.  Fox  and  Company  of  Putnam,  Connecticut,  as  salesman 
and  bookkeeper,  remaining  with  this  firm  for  five  years.  Having 
decided,  after  this  trial,  on  a  mercantile  career  Mr.  Paine  then  went 
to  Danielson,  Connecticut,  in  1877,  and  in  company  with  John  Dav- 
enport bought  out  the  coal  and  lumber  business  of  0.  M.  Capron  and 
Son.  In  1882  this  partnership  was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Paine  con- 
tinued the  business  independently  until  1896.  He  has  taken  an  in- 
terest in  the  educational  work  of  his  town,  serving  as  a  member  of 
its  school  committee  since  1889.  Mr.  Paine  has  also  served  that 
length  of  time  as  a  member  of  the  town  board.  He  has  always  been 
an  active  Republican  and  represented  his  district  in  the  state  legis- 
lature from  1897  to  1898  and  was  Judge  of  Probate  in  1903  and 
1904.  He  has  been  president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Kil- 
lingly  and  a  director  in  the  Windham  County  National  Bank  and  is 
at  present  the  president  of  the  Windham  County  Savings  Bank. 

259 


260  JOHN  AUGUSTIN   PAINE. 

On  January  25th,  1882,  Mr.  Paine  was  married  to  Fannie  Grace 
Dorrance.  They  have  had  five  children :  Everett  Augustin,  died  May 
25th,  1895,  aged  thirteen  years;  Arthur  Kupert,  born  October  5th, 
1884,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1906 ;  Wallace  Martin, 
born  May  13th,  1887;  Corinne  Lucia,  born  May  30th,  1889,  and 
Dorothy  Dorrance,  born  August  14th,  1895.  He  has  been  a  deacon  of 
the  Congregational  Church  of  Danielson  since  1893.  Mr.  Paine  be- 
lieves that  he  owes  his  success  in  life  to  the  influences  of  his  home, 
school,  private  study  and  contact  with  men  of  affairs.  The  books  which 
he  most  cares  for  are  the  Bible,  ancient  history  and  biography  and  he 
finds  his  relaxation  in  the  companionship  of  his  children  and  in  travel. 


MORRIS  BEACH  BEARDSLEY 

BEAEDSLEY,  MORRIS  BEACH,  attorney-at-law  and  public 
man  of  Bridgeport,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  was  born 
in  Trumbull,  one  of  the  smaller  towns  of  that  county,  on 
August  13th,  1849,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel  G.  and  Mary  Beach 
Beardsley.  On  his  father's  side  he  traces  his  ancestry  to  William 
Beardsley,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  Stratford,  Con- 
necticut, in  1639.  Morris  Beardsley's  parents  were  well-to-do  and 
did  their  utmost  to  give  him  educational  privileges  and  advantages. 
His  father  was  a  prosperous  farmer  who  held  nearly  every  town  office, 
being  at  different  times  town  clerk,  justice  of  peace,  representative 
and  state  senator  and  the  incumbent  of  many  minor  offices. 

The  son  Morris  spent  most  of  his  early  life  in  school.  He  at- 
tended Stratford  Academy,  where  he  prepared  for  Yale.  He  took  his 
A.B.  degree  at  Yale  in  1870  and  then  spent  one  year  in  professional 
study  at  the  Law  School  of  Columbia  University.  The  following 
year,  1871,  he  opened  his  legal  practice  in  Bridgeport  and  he  has  pur- 
sued it  ever  since  that  date  with  success  and  distinction. 

From  1873  to  1877  he  was  city  clerk  of  Bridgeport  and  from  1877 
to  1893  he  was  judge  of  the  Bridgeport  probate  court.  In  1893  he 
represented  his  city  in  the  State  Legislature  and  during  and  since 
these  dates  he  has  conducted  many  important  and  successful  lawsuits. 

Judge  Beardsley  is  a  Mason,  a  member  and  lieutenant-governor 
of  the  Society  of  Colonial  Wars,  and  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Revolution.  He  is  very  prominent  in  the  last  named  society 
and  was  at  one  time  vice-president  general  of  the  national  society  of 
that  name.  His  political  views  are  those  of  the  Republican  party  and 
his  church  membership  is  with  the  Congregational  denomination.  He 
considers  travel  the  most  ideal  recreation  and  indulges  his  inclination 
for  it  at  frequent  intervals. 

It  was  in  June,  1872,  soon  after  he  began  his  professional  career, 
that  Judge  Beardsley  married  Lucy  J.  Fayerweather.  Three  children 
have  been  born  of  this  union,  Samuel  F.  Beardsley.  Lucy  M.  Beards- 
ley,  and  Amelia  L.  Beardsley. 

261 


BENJAMIN   BLISS 

BLISS,  BENJAMIN",  late  merchant  and  prominent  citizen 
of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  West  Springfield, 
Hampden  County,  Massachusetts,  September  21st,  1820,  and 
died  in  Hartford,  October  3d,  1896.  He  represented  a  very  old  and 
distinguished  family,  whose  ancestral  tree  sprang  from  both  English 
and  Dutch  roots,  and  shows  many  worthy  branches.  He  was  a 
descendant  of  John  Bliss  of  Preston  Capes,  Manor  of  Fawsley,  North- 
amptonshire, England,  who  died  there  in  1617,  and  whose  family  had 
been  prominent  in  that  county  for  several  generations  previous  to  the 
year  1600.  Thomas  Bliss,  son  of  John  Bliss,  came  to  America  in 
1635,  to  escape  religious  persecution,  located  temporarily  in  Braintree, 
Massachusetts,  and  eventually  settled  in  Hartford,  of  which  place  he 
was  one  of  the  original  land-proprietors.  In  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, Caleb  Bliss,  grandfather  of  Benjamin,  was  a  private  in 
Captain  Francis  Stebbins'  company,  Colonel  David  Moseley's 
regiment,  which  was  formed  to  support  the  government  at 
Springfield.  He  enlisted  in  June,  1782.  Elijah  Bliss,  father  of 
Benjamin,  was  a  shoemaker  and  a  farmer  in  West  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, who  married  Lucy  Van  Horn,  and  it  is  through  her  and 
through  his  grandmother,  Hannah  Van  Horn,  that  Benjamin  Bliss  was 
a  descendant  of  Christian  Van  Horn,  who,  with  his  brother  Barent, 
came  to  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1704.  This  gentleman  was 
baptized  at  Hackensack,  N.  J.,  Feb.  16th,  1683,  the  son  of  John 
Christeson  Van  Horn  and  wife  Elenora,  The  grandfather  of 
Christian  Van  Horn  was  Christian  Barentsen  Van  Horn,  who,  with 
his  wife  Jennet je  Jans  and  some  of  their  children,  emigrated  from 
the  city  of  Hoorn  in  Holland  to  New  Amsterdam  (New  York  City), 
before  1653,  where  he  resided  at  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Wall  Streets. 

Dirck  Van  Horn,  maternal  grandfather  of  Benjamin  Bliss,  served 
on  the  alarm  of  April  19th,  1775,  and  also  in  1777,  1778,  and  1782  in 
the  War  of  the  Revolution.  Another  of  Mr.  Bliss'  noteworthy  an- 


^-/ 


BENJAMIN    BLISS.  265 

cestors  was  Luke  Hitchcock,  his  great-great-grandfather,  who  was 
a  captain  in  King  Philip's  war  in  1676.  From  his  father  Mr.  Bliss 
gained  an  example  of  courageous  and  religious  character,  and  a  mind 
strong  in  its  powers  of  concentration.  From  his  mother  he  received 
the  strongest  and  highest  spiritual  influences. 

Beared  on  his  father's  farm,  Benjamin  Bliss  had  in  youth  the 
usual  tasks  and  interests  of  the  New  England  country  boy.  He  was 
healthy  in  mind  and  body  and  lost  no  opportunity  for  improving  him- 
self in  every  way.  He  received  a  common  school  education,  which  was 
supplemented  by  reading  and  travel  in  later  years.  He  spent  more 
time  reading  the  Bible  than  any  other  book  and,  as  he  grew  older,  he 
read  historical  and  religious  works  with  the  greatest  interest.  He 
had  his  own  way  to  make  in  the  world,  and  at  eighteen  he  settled  in 
Hartford  and  entered  the  employ  of  H.  L.  Miller,  and  afterwards  of 
C.  F.  Collins,  both  dry  goods  merchants.  While  with  Mr.  Collins  young 
Mr.  Bliss  conceived  the  idea  of  putting  in  the  store  a  show-case,  filled 
with  knives  and  general  cutlery.  He  was  permitted  to  carry  out  this 
scheme,  and,  as  a  result,  made  the  money  that  gave  him  his  start  in  life 
and  with  which  he  opened  a  dry  goods  business  with  Joseph  Delliber, 
known  as  the  firm  of  Delliber  &  Bliss,  on  the  site  of  the  present  Hart- 
ford Opera  House.  At  the  end  of  three  years  Mr.  Bliss  purchased  Mr. 
Delliber's  interest  and,  in  1855,  he  also  purchased  the  property  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Pratt  streets,  where  he  established  one  of  the  larg- 
est dry  goods  stores  in  its  day  in  the  city  of  Hartford.  He  remained 
there  until  February,  1882,  when  his  impaired  health  prevented  his 
longer  continuance  in  active  business,  and  he  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Edward  L.  Bliss.  The  business  has  since  passed  into  other  hands 
and  is  now  C.  S.  Hills  &  Co.,  but  the  "  corner  block  "  still  belongs  to 
the  Bliss  family. 

Benjamin  Bliss  had  many  other  business  and  personal  interests 
in  Hartford  besides  those  immediately  connected  with  the  mercantile 
business,  and  he  was  particularly  interested  in  insurance  and  financial 
institutions.  He  was  a  director  of  the  National  Fire  Insurance  Com- 
pany and  of  the  Merchants'  Insurance  Company.  He  was  a  capable, 
level-headed  business  man  who  built  up  a  large  and  prosperous  busi- 
ness with  an  extensive  out-of-town  trade.  In  politics  he  was  first  a 
Whig  and  later  a  Eepublican,  and  during  the  Civil  War  he  was  a  loyal 
supporter  of  the  Government.  At  one  time  he  was  a  member  of  the 


266  BENJAMIN    BLISS. 

Governor's  Foot  Guard.  He  was  a  devoted  and  useful  member  of  the 
South  Baptist  Church,  was  chairman  of  its  Society  for  nine  years,  and 
he  was  the  dispenser  of  many  personal  charities  known  only  to  the 
recipients  of  his  benefactions.  He  was  honored,  not  only  as  a  suc- 
cessful business  man,  but  as  a  man  who  was  the  soul  of  integrity  and 
uprightness  in  all  his  dealings.  He.  was  a  man  of  sociable  and  do- 
mestic temperament  and  his  home  life  was  delightful  and  enjoyable. 
His  wife,  who  survives  him,  was  Abbie  Goodrich  Woodhouse,  of 
Wethersfield,  Connecticut,  and  she  has  been  the  mother  of  three  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons.  The  daughter,  Lizzie  Cordis,  died  in  1860,  while 
the  two  daughters,  Alice  Goodrich  and  Grace  Edith,  and  one  son,  Fred- 
erick Spencer  Bliss,  survive  their  father.  Mrs.  Bliss  is  a  descendant  of 
Joseph  Woodhouse,  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  Wethers- 
field  in  1710,  and  whose  father  lived  and  died  on  the  estate  called 
"  Hollow  Oak,"  in  Garway,  Herefordshire,  England,  while  his  mother, 
Phebe,  lies  buried  in  the  parish  yard  of  Goodrich-on-the-Wye,  near 
to  Garway  in  the  same  shire. 

Edward  Langdon  Bliss,  elder  son  of  Benjamin  Bliss,  was  born 
February  24th,  1852,  and,  after  receiving  his  education  at  the  Hart- 
ford public  schools  and  the  Cheshire  Military  Academy,  entered  into 
the  dry  goods  business  with  his  father.  After  his  father's  retirement, 
Edward  L.  Bliss  assumed  entire  charge  of  the  business  until  it  was 
sold  out  in  1891.  He  inherited  his  father's  rare  business  ability  and 
strength  of  mind  and  character,  and  was  well  informed  on  all  public 
matters.  He  was  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  Hartford  Board  of 
Trade.  He  enjoyed  travel,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  as  a  means  of 
recreation  and  education.  He  died  very  suddenly,  in  1895,  a  year  be- 
fore his  father's  death. 


SEBASTIAN   DUFFY  LAWRENCE 

LAWRENCE,  SEBASTIAN  DUFFY,  president  of  the  National 
Whaling  Bank  of  New  London,  Connecticut,  philanthropist 
and  public  benefactor,  bears  a  name  that  has  been  connected 
with  the  industrial,  financial  and  civil  life  of  New  London  for  many 
years  and  is  particularly  well  known  as  the  exponent  of  the  whaling 
industry  for  which  that  town  was  once  famous.  His  father  and 
grandfather  were  natives  of  Venice  and  the  former,  Joseph  Lawrence, 
commanded  a  vessel  engaged  in  trade  between  East  India  and  China 
and  came  to  New  London  in  1819,  where  he  established  a  commercial 
business  and  was  one  of  the  early  promoters  of  the  whaling  and  seal- 
ing industry.  He  had  as  many  as  fifteen  vessels  on  the  high  seas  at 
one  time  and  was  a  most  successful,  enterprising  and  capable  man 
who  left  to  his  son  and  his  city  an  example  of  business  tact  and 
ability  and  generous  public  service.  He  built  Lawrence  Hall  and  es- 
tablished the  National  Whaling  Bank,  of  which  his  son  is  now  presi- 
dent. His  wife,  Sebastian's  mother,  was  Mary  Woodward  Brown  of 
New  London. 

Sebastian  D.  Lawrence  was  born  in  1823  and  educated  at  the 
district  schools  in  his  native  city,  after  which  he  spent  six  years  at 
the  Bacon  Academy  in  Colchester,  Connecticut.  Then,  at  the  age  of 
twenty,  he  entered  into  business  relations  with  his  father  and  became 
identified  with  the  whaling  industry,  continuing  in  the  commercial 
career  until  1887,  when  the  last  voyage  was  made  and  the  once  great 
industry  had  proved  a  thing  of  the  past.  In  1863  he  became  presi- 
dent of  the  National  Whaling  Bank,  which  was  changed  in  that  year 
from  a  state  bank  to  a  national  bank.  This  bank,  founded  by  his 
father  in  1833,  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  soundest  banks  in  the  State. 
It  was  built  in  the  days  of  New  London's  commercial  supremacy  as  a 
whaling  port  and  to  satisfy  the  demand  for  increased  banking  facili- 
ties caused  by  the  growth  of  the  industry  from  which  it  takes  its 
name.  It  has  outlived  that  industry  and  is  today  one  of  the  principal 
banking  houses  of  the  city,  occupying  its  own  substantial  building, 

267 


268  SEBASTIAN   DUFFY   LAWRENCE. 

which  fittingly  embodies  the  solidity  and  strength  of  the  institution 
itself.  Its  growth  and  prestige  is  greatly  due  to  the  keen  judgment, 
practical  business  methods  and  solid  integrity  of  its  president. 

A  man  who  inherits  a  large  fortune  and  through  his  own  success- 
ful efforts  multiplies  that  fortune  is  doubly  responsible  for  its  use. 
Sebastian  D.  Lawrence  has  met  his  responsibility  and  abundantly  dis- 
charged it  in  many  public  and  private  charities  actuated  by  true  pa- 
triotism and  Christianity.  The  Soldiers  and  Sailors'  Monument  near 
the  Union  Station  in  New  London,  and  the  Fireman's  Monument  are 
but  two  of  his  many  public  benefactions.  He  is  a  philanthropist  in 
the  word's  best  sense.  In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat  and  in  creed  an 
Episcopalian  and  it  might  be  added  that  in  citizenship  he  is  an 
altruist  of  a  most  useful  and  inspiring  type. 


NOBLE   BENNETT  STRONG 

STRONG,  NOBLE  BENNETT,  fanner  and  public  man,  of 
Warren,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  who  has  been  state 
representative,  notary  public,  commissioner  of  the  superior 
court  of  Litchfield  County,  and  the  incumbent  of  numerous  responsi- 
ble town  offices,  was  born  in  Warren,  April  30th,  1833.  He  is  in  the 
eighth  generation  of  descent  from  Elder  John  Strong,  who  came  from 
England  to  America  in  1630  in  the  ship  Mary  and  John  and  settled 
in  Dorchester,  Massachusetts,  and  later  in  Windsor,  Connecticut. 
Still  later  he  moved  to  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  where  he  died 
at  the  age  of  ninety-four,  the  father  of  sixteen  children.  Eben  Strong, 
Mr.  Noble  B.  Strong's  grandfather,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution, 
county  surveyor  for  over  forty  years,  and  a  man  noted  for  his  piety 
and  for  his  great  interest  in  fighting  the  wrongs  of  humanity.  David 
Strong,  Mr.  Strong's  father,  was  a  farmer  and  a  captain  of  militia 
who  held  many  town  offices,  including  that  of  selectman,  and  who  was 
honored  for  his  uprightness,  thoroughness  and  reliability.  Mr. 
Strong's  mother  was  Eunice  Pickett  Strong  and  though  she  died  when 
he  was  but  six  months  old  he  was  brought  up  in  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  her  beautiful  Christian  character  which  made  a  lifelong  impression 
and  inspiration. 

The  care  of  live  stock,  wood  chopping  and  all  the  other  duties  of 
farm  life  made  plenty  of  work  for  a  boy  who  was  robust,  strong  and 
ambitious  like  Noble  Strong  and,  as  he  was  naturally  studious,  he 
employed  most  of  his  leisure  in  reading  and  study.  History,  biog- 
raphy and  books  of  travel  were  of  absorbing  interest  to  him  and  he 
made  an  especially  thorough  study  of  the  history  of  his  native  town 
and  state.  He  informed  himself  about  the  places  and  people  most 
influential  in  society  and  in  the  building  up  of  the  country  and  indeed 
about  everything  that  pertained  to  the  improvement  and  progress  of 
humanity.  He  secured  as  thorough  an  education  as  the  family  means 
permitted  and  used  his  first  earnings  to  augment  his  educational  ad- 

269 


270  NOBLE    BENNETT     STRONG. 

vantages.     He  attended  the  district  school  and  academy  in  Warren 
and  enjoyed  a  few  terms  at  the  New  Britain  Normal  School. 

Circumstances  were  such  that  at  twenty-one  Mr.  Strong  was 
obliged  to  go  west  to  assist  his  elder  brother,  who  had  gone  with  his 
family  to  Iowa.  When  his  brother  no  longer  needed  him,  Mr.  Strong 
went  on  to  Nebraska  and  settled  there  before  the  region  was  fully  sur- 
veyed. He  located  his  brother's  family  there  and  then  went  to  north- 
western Missouri,  where  he  spent  two  years  as  teacher  in  the  district 
schools.  He  became  sheriff  of  Johnson  County,  Nebraska,  and  also 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  religious  life  of  the  new  community. 

Upon  his  return  to  Connecticut  Mr.  Strong  undertook  his  share 
of  managing  the  homestead  farm  which  has  been  in  the  family  for 
five  generations  of  men  who  have  "used  the  fruits  of  their  own 
labors  "  in  tilling  its  soil  year  after  year.  He  has  been  a  farmer  ever 
since  and  his  chief  interest  outside  of  that  occupation  has  been  in 
public  affairs  and  services.  He  has  been  justice  of  peace,  selectman, 
a  member  of  the  school  board,  a  leader  in  church  life,  and  a  political 
power  in  Warren  for  over  fifty  years.  In  1865  he  was  a  member  of 
the  state  House  of  Representatives,  he  was  notary  public  for  fifteen 
years,  in  1902  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of 
Connecticut  and  he  has  also  been  commissioner  of  the  superior  court 
of  Litchfield  County.  He  has  taken  charge  of  a  number  of  large  trust 
funds  and  has  conducted  the  settlement  of  various  estates.  He  has 
also  been  superintendent  of  the  Congregational  Sunday  School  in 
Warren  and  acting  school  visitor  for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  like- 
wise fostered  intellectual  life  in  his  community  as  a  lecturer  before 
various  societies.  He  is  a  member  of  Grange  No.  132,  but  otherwise 
has  no  fraternal  or  social  ties.  He  has  been  a  loyal  supporter  of  the 
Republican  platform  from  the  day  of  his  first  vote.  His  family  con- 
sists of  a  wife  and  five  children.  Mrs.  Strong  was  Emily  Terrell  of 
Kent,  Connecticut. 

The  highest  ideal  of  Mr.  Strong's  life  has  been,  as  he  himself 
says,  to  create  "  a  pleasant  home  in  every  sense  of  the  word  without 
regard  to  wealth  or  civil  distinction."  Home  and  the  heritage  of 
qualities  that  make  for  good  and  useful  citizenship  have  been  the  chief 
formative  influences  of  his  own  life  and  he  has  "builded  well"  to 
make  such  a  home  for  his  own  dear  ones.  To  young  men  seeking  the 
secret  of  true  success  in  life  he  says :  "  Cultivate  reliability  and  inde- 


NOBLE    BENNETT    STRONG. 


271 


pendence  and  push  forward  with  a  vim,  ever  remembering  that  '  what 
man  has  done  man  can  do/  and  be  prepared  to  do  and  ~be  something 
in  the  world.  Opportunities  will  come  that  were  never  dreamed  of 
and  you  must  be  ready  to  enter  the  car  when  the  train  starts.  Seek 
the  company  of  educated  people,  attend  the  meetings  of  some  church, 
be  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  people  and  the  enlightenment  of 
the  world.  Do  your  duty  today  and  the  morrow  will  take  care  of  it- 
self." 


FRANCIS  HUBERT  PARKER 

PARKER,  FRANCIS  HUBERT,  a  well  known  member  of  the 
Connecticut  Bar,  was  born  in  East  Haddam,  Middlesex 
County,  Connecticut,  September  23d,  1850.  He  is  a  descend- 
ant of  William  Parker  who  settled  in  Hartford  in  1636,  and  removed 
to  Saybrook  in  1645.  Among  Mr.  Parker's  ancestors  were  Edward 
Fuller,  John  Howland,  and  John  Tilley,  passengers  in  the  Mayflower ; 
James  Avery,  John  Elderkin,  and  William  Lyon,  all  early  settlers  in 
Connecticut  and  Massachusetts.  John  Parker,  Nathan  Avery  and 
Josiah  Lyon,  three  of  Mr.  Parker's  great-grandfathers,  saw  service 
in  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  his  maternal  grandfather,  Hubert  Ayer, 
in  the  War  of  1812.  Mr.  Parker's  father,  Ozias  H.  Parker,  lived  in 
East  Haddam  until  his  recent  death.  He  was  a  representative  in  the 
General  Assembly  in  1851,  1854,  1857,  and  1877,  selectman  for  many 
years,  first  selectman  for  seven  years,  town  auditor,  school  visitor,  and 
in  many  other  ways  a  useful  member  of  his  community.  His  faithful- 
ness to  trusts,  strict  sense  of  honor,  independent  judgment  and  strong 
common  sense,  secured  for  him  the  respect  of  his  fellow  townsmen. 
Mr.  Parker's  mother  was  Maria  M.  Ayer,  a  woman  of  strong  charac- 
ter, whose  moral  influence  upon  her  son  was  very  helpful. 

A  Connecticut  hill  farm  was  Mr.  Parker's  boyhood  home,  and  it 
afforded  a  life  full  of  duties  and  responsibilities.  The  family  means 
were  limited  and  he  worked  hard  to  get  the  thorough  education  he 
desired,  for  he  was  studious  and  literary  from  a  very  early  age.  Mr. 
Parker  prepared  for  college  in  the  old-fashioned  way  with  Rev.  Silas 
W.  Robbins,  pastor  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  East  Had- 
dam. He  graduated  from  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown,  in 
1874,  with  the  degree  of  B.  A.,  and  then  attended  Yale  Law  School, 
receiving  his  LL.B.  in  1876.  That  same  year  he  began  the  practice 
of  law  in  Hartford,  but,  although  this  was  the  beginning  of  his  life 
work,  it  was  not  his  first  work,  for  he  had  taught  school  one  term 
during  his  college  course  and  continued  teaching  for  two  terms 
while  studying  law. 

272 


FRANCIS    HUBERT    PARKER.  275 

Mr.  Parker  has  continued  steadily  and  successfully  in  his  chosen 
profession.  He  was  prosecuting  attorney  for  Hartford  from  1887 
to  1891  and  from  1894  to  1895,  referee  in  bankruptcy  for  the  County 
of  Hartford  from  1898  to  1900,  when  he  resigned  to  become  United 
States  Attorney  for  the  district  of  Connecticut,  to  which  position 
he  was  appointed  by  President  McKinley.  One  of  Mr.  Parker's  best 
known  cases  was  that  of  Henry  L.  Goodwin  against  the  town  of  East 
Hartford,  in  which  Mr.  Goodwin  strove  to  prevent  payment  from  the 
East  Hartford  treasury  of  an  order  of  $5,000,  drawn  for  the  expense 
of  lobbying  a  bill  through  the  legislature,  imposing  upon  the  State 
the  maintenance  of  a  free  bridge  across  the  Connecticut.  Mr.  Parker 
carried  the  case  through  the  courts  successfully. 

An  active,  ardent  Eepublican,  Mr.  Parker  has  held  many  public 
positions  of  a  political  nature.  He  has  been  a  delegate  to  state  and 
local  political  conventions,  and  was  chairman  of  the  Hartford  Eepub- 
lican Town  Committee  from  1896  to  1900.  He  represented  East 
Haddam  in  the  Connecticut  General  Assembly  in  1878  and  1880. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  Republican  Club  of  Hartford. 

In  addition  to  his  legal  and  political  interests,  Mr.  Parker  is 
interested  in  historical  and  educational  matters,  is  president  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Connecticut  School  for  Boys,  chairman  of 
the  Library  Committee  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  and  a 
member  of  the  board  of  managers  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  college  fraternity,  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 
Mr.  Parker  is  a  regular  attendant  of  the  Congregational  Church. 
Socially  he  is  a  member  of  the  Hartford  Club  and  of  the  University 
Club  of  Hartford. 

Mr.  Parker  married,  December  9th,  1891,  Mrs.  Adelaide  (Leeds) 
Fowler  of  New  London,  daughter  of  Gary  and  Mary  (Millet)  Leeds, 
and  widow  of  Lieut.  Frank  Fowler  of  the  21st  Connecticut  Volunteers. 

For  the  young  men  of  to-day  and  to-morrow  Mr.  Parker  advocates 
"plain  living  and  high  thinking."  "A  strenuous  life  guided  by  a 
nice  sense  of  honor  and  morality ;  a  life  '  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche,' 
with  hard  work  and  patience  and  perseverance  will  bring  to  the  young 
such  measure  of  success  as  they  deserve." 


14 


WILLIAM   HENRY  HARRISON 
WOOSTER 

WOOSTER,   WILLIAM   HENRY   HARRISON,   manufact- 
urer, and  former  state  senator,  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
The  Seymour  Manufacturing  Company,  president  of  The 
Seymour  Water  Company,  and  president  of  the  Seymour  Electric 
Light  Company,  was  born  in  Waterbury,  New  Haven  County,  Con- 
necticut, July  4th,  1840.    Mr.  Wooster  is  the  son  of  Albert  Wooster, 
a  mechanic,  and  Mitty  Chatfield  Wooster.     Most  of  his  youth  was 
spent  in  the  country  and  his  schooling  was  acquired  in  the  public 
schools  of  Waterbury  and  Naugatuck. 

At  the  very  early  age  of  ten  William  Henry  Harrison  Wooster 
went  to  work  in  a  factory  in  Naugatuck  during  the  summer  months 
when  he  was  not  in  school.  At  fifteen  he  spent  two  years  as  clerk 
in  a  country  store.  From  1857  to  1861  he  was  employed  as  a  sales- 
man and  bookkeeper.  From  1866  to  1877  he  was  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business  in  Massachusetts.  Since  1878  he  has  been  a 
resident  of  Seymour  and  a  leader  in  the  industrial  and  public  life 
of  that  busy  little  town.  In  that  year  he  became  secretary  and  treas- 
urer of  the  Seymour  Manufacturing  Company,  a  large  concern  well 
known  for  its  extensive  manufacture  of  German  silver,  copper,  sheet 
brass,  wire  and  tubing  for  use  in  the  manufacture  of  silverware  and 
all  sorts  of  brass  goods.  Mr.  Wooster  is  also  president  of  The  Sey- 
mour Water  Company  and  of  the  Seymour  Electric  Light  Company. 

Mr.  Wooster's  career  in  business  was  interrupted  at  the  time  of 
the  Civil  War.  He  served  in  the  Sixth  Eegiment  Connecticut  Volun- 
teers in  1861  and  1862,  and  again  in  1864  and  1865.  He  has  rendered 
more  recent  public  service  in  politics,  having  been  senator  from  the 
seventeenth  district  in  1905.  He  is  greatly  interested  in  the  advance- 
ment of  education  and  was  a  member  of  the  local  school  board  for  six 
years  as  well  as  a  member  of  the  building  committee  for  the  Seymour 
High  School.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  in  religious  faith 
he  is  a  Congregationalist.  From  1883  to  1885  he  was  superintendent 
of  the  Sunday  school  in  the  Congregational  church  in  Seymour. 

276 


WILLIAM    HENET    HABBISON    WOOSTER.  277 

On  August  26th,  1861,  Mr.  Wooster  married  Anna  Louise  Put- 
nam, daughter  of  Horace  and  Clarinda  (Boice)  Putnam  of  Spring- 
field, Massachusetts.  Six  children  have  been  born  of  this  union  and 
all  are  now  living.  Their  names  are  Annie  Thompson,  Clara  Lee, 
Horace  Putnam,  Louise,  Mabel  and  Helena  Ruth. 


SAMUEL  EDWIN   MERWIN 

MEKWIN,  SAMUEL  EDWIN",  was  a  descendant  of  the  family 
of  Miles  Merwin,  who  came  from  Wales  to  Milford,  Con- 
necticut, in  the  year  1638,  and  the  son  of  Samuel  Edwin 
Merwin  of  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut.     He  was  born  in  Brook- 
field,  Connecticut,  August  23d,  1831.     His  mother,  Euby  bearing 
Merwin,  had  an  especial  influence  on  his  spiritual  and  moral  life. 

He  grew  up  in  the  simple  life  of  the  country,  attending  the  com- 
mon, and  later  the  high  schools  of  Brookfield,  Newtown,  and  New 
Haven.  After  leaving  school  he  accepted  a  position  as  clerk  in  a 
grocery  store.  He  soon  left  this  business,  however,  finding  it  little 
to  his  taste,  and  joined  his  father,  the  late  Samuel  E.  Merwin,  in 
1850,  in  the  wholesale  provision  business  and  meat  packing,  under 
the  firm  name  of  S.  E.  Merwin  &  Son.  The  firm  prospered  and  con- 
tinued in  business  at  the  same  place  on  State  Street  until  about  1886, 
when,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  he  sold  out  and  went  into  bank- 
ing as  president  of  the  New  Haven  Savings  Bank  in  1888.  From 
1889  to  1901  Mr.  Merwin  served  as  president  and  director  of  the  Yale 
National  Bank.  He  was  for  a  time  a  director  in  the  Merchants'  Na- 
tional Bank,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  president  and  director 
of  the  New  Haven  Savings  Bank,  and  a  trustee  of  the  New  Haven 
Trust  Company.  He  was  also  a  director  of  several  railroads,  of  the 
New  Haven  Water  Company,  the  Southern  New  England  Telephone 
Company,  and  the  National  Pipe  Bending  Company. 

Mr.  Merwin  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem  by  the  people  of  New 
Haven,  and  was  actively  connected  in  all  the  economic,  educational,  and 
philanthropic  work  of  the  city.  He  was  president  of  the  General  Hos- 
pital Society  for  fourteen  years,  at  one  time  a  member  of  the  Pru- 
dential Committee,  and  was  serving  on  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the 
New  Haven  Orphan  Asylum  at  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  con- 
nected with  the  City  Board  of  Education  for  six  years,  and  with  the 
State  Board  for  four,  was  a  director  of  the  Industrial  School  for  Girls, 
and  a  member  of  the  Police  Commission.  In  politics  Mr.  Merwin  was 

278 


SAMUEL    EDWIN    MERWIN.  281 

a  Bepublican,  and  held  a  number  of  prominent  offices  within  that 
party's  gift,  being  elected  a  state  senator  in  1876,  and  later  serving 
as  Lieutenant-Governor  for  four  years.  He  belonged  to  a  number 
of  clubs  and  organizations,  among  them  the  Union  League,  the  Quin- 
nipiac,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  the  Historical  Society  of  New 
Haven.  In  1904  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  was  conferred 
on  him  by  Yale  University  —  an  honor  of  which  he  may  be  justly 
proud.  Mr.  Merwin  attended  the  St.  Paul  Episcopal  Church.  On 
February  7th,  1854,  he  was  married  to  Lucy  Emily  Beers. 

During  the  Civil  War  Mr.  Merwin  was  one  of  those  ready  and 
anxious  to  go  to  the  front,  but  the  opportunity  never  came.  During 
a  part  of  the  war  he  commanded  the  New  Haven  Grays,  which  com- 
pany was  not  sent  into  active  service,  but  was  under  arms  one  month 
during  the  draft  riots.  Later,  Mr.  Merwin  commanded  the  Second 
Kegiment,  where  his  duty  consisted  in  receiving  returning  regiments, 
burying  the  dead,  and  guarding  conscripts.  He  told  an  interesting 
anecdote  of  his  last  military  service :  "  It  took  place,"  he  said,  "  when 
I  was  serving  as  Adjutant-General  of  the  State  under  Governor  Jewell. 
I  was  ordered  one  morning  to  assist  the  sheriff  in  stopping  a  prize-fight 
on  Charles  Island.  I  called  out  the  city  companies,  chaptered  a  train 
and  went  to  Milford,  bagged  the  intending  spectators,  and  returned 
home.  We  received  quite  an  ovation  on  our  return  as  we  marched  up 
Chapel  Street  with  between  one  and  two  hundred  prisoners.  There 
has  never  been  a  prize-fight  in  Connecticut  since  that  date." 

From  his  own  experience  and  observation,  Mr.  Merwin  would 
say  to  young  men  that  the  way  to  succeed  in  life  is  by  attending  strictly 
to  the  business  in  hand,  being  truthful  and  honest,  prompt  in  keeping 
engagements,  by  paying  bills  when  due,  and  living  within  one's 
income.  Further,  by  being  charitable  in  all  things,  but  not  thinking 
it  necessary  to  give  when  the  money  should  be  paid  to  some  honest 
creditor. 

Mr.  Merwin  died  at  his  home  in  New  Haven  on  March  5th,  1907. 


FREEMAN   FREMONT   PATTEN 

PATTEN,  FREEMAN  FREMONT,  treasurer  of  the  Warren 
Woolen  Company  of  Stafford  Springs,  Tolland  County,  Con- 
necticut, treasurer  of  the  State  of  Connecticut  and  a  public 
official  in  many  other  capacities,  was  born  in  Stafford  Springs  on  the 
third  of  November,  1856.  He  traces  his  ancestry  to  William  Patten, 
who  came  from  Somersetshire,  England,  to  America  in  1830.  Mr. 
Patten's  great-grandfather,  Captain  Hezekiah  Wells,  was  an  officer 
who  took  active  part  in  many  engagements  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Mr.  Patten's  parents  were  Bobbins  and  Louisa  Converse  Patten. 
His  father  was  a  woolen  manufacturer  and  vice-president  and 
director  of  the  Stafford  Springs  Savings  Bank.  His  son  describes 
him  as  "  one  of  the  good  men "  and  adds  that  his  mother  was  a 
woman  of  strong  character  and  ennobling  influence. 

After  receiving  a  common  school  education  in  his  home  town  and 
three  years  of  more  advanced  training  at  the  Wesleyan  Academy  in 
Wilbraham,  Massachusetts,  young  Mr.  Patten  became  a  clerk  in  the 
savings  bank  at  Stafford  Springs.  He  was  then  nineteen  years  old 
and  two  years  later,  when  he  was  less  than  twenty-one,  he  left  the 
bank  to  become  a  bookkeeper  in  the  Converseside  Woolen  Company, 
founded  by  his  grandfather,  Captain  Parley  Converse,  and  in  which 
his  father  was  actively  interested.  Two  years  later,  in  1879,  the  com- 
pany was  dissolved  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Warren  Woolen  Com- 
pany and  Mr.  Patten  became  head  bookkeeper  of  the  new  organization. 
In  1890  he  was  made  treasurer  of  the  company,  which  had  increased 
to  considerable  importance  in  the  industrial  world.  In  1900  Mr. 
Patten  retired  after  nearly  twenty-five  years  of  successful  experience 
in  the  woolen  business.  Since  then  he  has  given  his  time  to  the 
management  of  his  extensive  real  estate  holdings  and  to  the  filling 
of  various  public  positions. 

Among  Mr.  Patten's  public  offices  are  the  following:  treasurer 
of  the  school  district,  treasurer  of  the  borough,  borough  warden,  state 
representative  and  state  treasurer,  his  present  office.  He  is  a  Re- 

282 


FREEMAN  FREMONT  PATTEN.  283 

publican  in  politics,  a  Methodist  in  creed  and  a  Shriner  in  fraternal 
affiliations.  He  is  a  governor  of  the  Country  Club  and  a  member  of 
the  Business  Men's  Club  of  his  town.  He  is  also  identified  with 
the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution.  He  was  one  of  the  incorpora- 
tors  of  the  Stafford  Springs  Cemetery  and  he  is  a  director  of  the  local 
savings  bank. 

The  Patten  home  is  "  Edgewood "  at  Stafford  Springs.  Mrs. 
Patten  was  Lily  D.  Welch,  whom  he  married  in  November,  1901. 
Mr.  Patten  has  one  child,  a  son,  Parley  Converse  Patten.  Since  his 
retirement  from  active  business  Mr.  Patten  has  more  time  for  out- 
of-door  recreation  and  has  become  an  enthusiastic  automobilist.  Aside 
from  this  he  has  no  sports  or  "  fads  "  that  divert  his  interest  from 
public  and  private  business  and  home  life. 


GEORGE  LORING  PORTER 

PORTER,  GEORGE  LORING,  M.D.,  A.M.,  an  eminent  phy- 
sician and  surgeon  of  Bridgeport,  Fairfield  County,  Connect- 
icut, who  won  fame  and  honor  for  his  gallant  and  efficient 
services  to  the  government  as  army  surgeon  during  the  Civil  War,  is 
also  well  known  for  his  notable  contributions  to  medical  literature 
and  for  his  leadership  in  the  medical  profession  during  the  quarter  of  a 
century  that  has  elapsed  since  the  War.  He  was  born  in  Concord, 
New  Hampshire,  April  29th,  1838,  son  of  George  and  Clarissa  Ayer 
Porter.  His  father  was  a  manufacturer  and  his  mother  was  a  typical, 
well-educated  New  England  lady,  high-minded  and  of  ennobling 
influence.  The  Doctor's  grandfather  was  Isaac  Porter  who  was  in  the 
seventh  generation  of  descent  from  John  Porter  who  came  from 
Dorset,  England,  in  1635,  and  settled  in  Hingham,  Massachusetts. 
An  early  maternal  ancestor  was  Peter  Ayer,  a  descendant  of  Simond 
Ayer,  who  came  from  England  to  Haverhill,  Massachusetts,  early 
in  1635. 

The  Doctor's  first  school  days  were  passed  at  the  Little  Blue 
Academy  in  Farmington,  Maine,  a  school  supervised  by  Jacob  Abbott, 
who  brought  up  his  scholars  to  learn  self-reliance  and  industry  through 
the  performance  of  regular  manual  labor.  After  leaving  Farming- 
ton,  young  Porter  entered  the  Pembroke  (N.  H.)  Academy,  where  he 
was  graduated  in  1853,  and  he  then  took  a  course  at  the  New  London 
(N.  H.)  Academy,  which  he  completed  two  years  later.  He  then  took 
the  full  course  at  Brown  University  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
where  he  received  both  the  A.B.  and  the  A.M.  degrees,  completing 
his  work  there  in  1859.  During  his  school  days  he  acquired  a  fond- 
ness for  the  classical  authors  and  both  during  and  since  college 
days  he  has  continued  to  read  the  English,  Latin  and  Greek  classics 
with  great  interest  and  profit. 

After  reading  medicine  with  Dr.  Dake  in  Pittsburg  for  one  year 
and  under  the  guidance  of  Drs.  Brinton  and  Da  Costa  of  Philadel- 
phia for  two  years,  George  L.  Porter  received  the  degree  of  Doctor 

284 


GEORGE  LORING  PORTER.  285 

of  Medicine  at  Jefferson  College,  Philadelphia,  in  March,  1862,  where 
he  had  taken  two  general  and  three  special  courses  of  lectures  as 
directed  hy  the  doctors  named  above  and  had  served  for  one  year  as 
interne  in  the  college  hospital.  Within  a  month  after  receiving  his 
medical  degree  he  passed  the  requirements  of  the  Army  Medical 
Examining  Board  in  Philadelphia  and  was  assigned  to  duty  at  the 
government  hospital  at  Strasburg,  Virginia,  where  he  reported  for 
duty  on  May  10th,  1862.  Two  weeks  later  when  the  Union  forces 
retreated  down  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  Dr.  Porter  remained  in  charge 
of  the  sick  and  wounded  and  was  taken  prisoner  by  a  Colonel  Ashby 
of  Virginia  cavalry.  But  General  Jackson  was  quick  to  recognize  the 
value  of  his  services  and  placed  him  in  charge  of  the  hospital  to 
care  for  the  wounded  in  both  armies.  After  a  couple  of  months 
of  active  service  in  various  army  hospitals  in  the  South  Dr.  Porter 
was  commissioned  Assistant-Surgeon  of  the  United  States  Army 
with  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant  on  July  17th,  1862,  and  served 
with  great  skill  and  courage  until  1868,  being  the  early  part  of 
that  time  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  was  present  at  the 
battles  of  Fredericksburg,  Gettysburg,  Brandy  Station,  Beverly  Ford, 
Manassas  Gap,  Boonsboro,  where  his  left  arm  was  wounded,  and 
many  other  battles.  On  April  29th,  1864,  he  was  ordered  to  report 
at  Washington  for  duty,  but  the  message  was  not  delivered,  as 
communication  with  the  Capital  was  cut  off,  and  he  remained  with 
the  Army  during  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness,  often  performing 
operations  under  heavy  fire.  From  May,  1864,  to  May,  1867,  he 
was  post  surgeon  at  Washington,  and  during  that  time,  in  March, 
1865,  he  was  brevetted  captain  and  major  for  his  bravery  and 
faithfulness  to  duty.  In  the  summer  of  1867  he  was  assigned  to  duty 
at  Camp  Cook,  Montana,  and  during  the  following  spring  he  served  in 
the  expedition  to  Musselshell  Kiver  as  physician  and  day  officer  in 
defense  against  "  Sitting  Bull's  "  hostile  Indians.  In  October,  1868, 
he  resigned  from  the  Army. and  since  that  time  has  carried  on  the 
private  practice  of  medicine  in  Bridgeport,  Conn.  His  settling  in 
Connecticut  did  not,  however,  end  his  military  services,  for  he  was  for 
four  years  surgeon  of  the  Fourth  Regiment,  Connecticut  National 
Guard,  and  three  years  medical  director  of  the  staff  of  the  command- 
ing general. 

Since  he  has  devoted  his  time  to  the  private  practice  of  medicine 


286  GEORGE  LORING  PORTER. 

Dr.  Porter  has  been  most  active  and  influential  in  advancing  medical 
science  through  developing  local  medical  societies  and  also  by  means 
of  many  ably  written  works  on  medical  subjects.  He  was  an  incorpor- 
ator  and  member  of  the  staff  and  executive  committee  of  the  Bridge- 
port Hospital  and  delivered  the  opening  address  at  the  dedication  of 
the  surgical  building  of  that  institution.  For  many  years  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Bridgeport  Medical  Association  and  he  was  its 
president  in  1876-'77.  He  is  also  a  member  and  ex-president  of  both 
the  Fairfield  Medical  Association  and  the  Connecticut  Medical  Society. 
He  is  also  a  member  of  the  following  distinguished  societies  in  many 
of  which  he  has  been  an  officer :  The  American  Medical  Association, 
the  American  Academy  of  Medicine,  the  Ninth  International  Medical 
Congress,  the  Military  Order  of  Loyal  Legion,  the  Bridgeport  Board 
of  Health,  the  Bridgeport  Library  Board,  the  Bridgeport  Scientific 
and  Historical  Society,  and  the  Bridgeport  Old  Home  Week  Associa- 
tion. Of  the  last  five  organizations  he  is  an  ex-president.  He  has 
also  been  president  of  the  United  States  Pension  Examining  Board. 
Since  1879,  he  has  been  a  visitor  to  the  Hartford  Insane  Eetreat.  In 
Masonry  he  has  attained  to  the  thirty-third  degree.  He  is  also  a 
member  of  the  G-.  A.  K.,  and  Army  and  Navy  Clubs  of  Connecticut 
and  New  York,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Baptist 
Church,  the  Seaside,  Eclectic,  Outing,  and  Algonquin  Clubs  of  Bridge- 
port, the  Oquosoc  Angling  Association  and  the  Island  Brook,  Meta- 
betchouan  and  Bostonnais  Fishing  and  Game  Clubs.  He  has  been 
president  of  many  of  these  clubs.  As  the  list  shows,  outside  of 
professional,  patriotic  and  intellectual  interests,  his  time  is  given 
to  fraternal  life  and  to  the  outdoor  sports,  fishing,  shooting,  and 
camping.  When  in  college  he  was  a  member  of  the  well  known 
fraternity,  Alpha  Delta  Phi,  and  later  of  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  and  he 
is  still  interested  in  these  societies  and  in  the  University  Club  of 
his  home  city.  In  addition  to  all  these  pursuits,  the  Doctor  has 
found  time  to  act  as  medical  examiner  for  many  life  insurance  com- 
panies and  charitable  associations,  and  to  write  many  important 
scientific  articles. 

The  most  important  of  Dr.  Porter's  professional  writings  are 
a  "  Eeport  of  a  Case  of  Xanthic  Oxide  Calculus,"  the  only  specimen 
ever  recognized  in  this  country,  1882,  "New  Danger  in  Surgery," 
1884,  "  Tubal  Pregnancy,"  1883,  "  The  Cost  of  Sickness  to  the  In- 


GEORGE  LORING  PORTER.  287 

dividual  and  the  State,"  1889,  "  The  Medical  Practice  Act  in  Con- 
necticut/7 addressed  to  the  legislature  in  1893,  "  The  Recognition  of 
Death/'  1875,  "The  Wave  Theory;  Its  Application  in  Sickness," 
1876,  "Connecticut  Work  and  Workmen,"  1894,  "The  Tragedy  of 
the  Nation/' —  an  account  of  Lincoln's  assassination,  "  The  Water 
Supply  of  Cities,"  and  another  historical  work,  a  "  Lecture  on  Wash- 
ington." 

Dr.  Porter's  marriage  took  place  November  20th,  1862.  His  wife 
is  Catherine  Maria  Chaffee  Porter,  daughter  of  Edwin  M.  Chaffee  of 
Providence,  Ehode  Island,  the  inventor  of  the  Chaffee  cylinder  for 
vulcanizing  rubber.  Of  the  thirteen  children  born  to  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Porter  but  three  are  now  living. 

Words  uttered  by  a  man  of  such  a  career  as  Dr.  Porter's  are  of 
great  value  and  interest  to  those  seeking  practical  advice.  He  be- 
lieves that  the  essence  of  success  lies  in  a  "  careful  study  of  American 
history,  and  the  lives  of  representative  men,  the  recognition  of  the 
duties  of  citizenship  and  a  willingness  to  perform  them."  Other 
elements  of  success  are  persistent  attempts  to  do  one's  work  better 
than  any  one  else,  reasonable  abstinence,  prompt  and  cheerful  rec- 
ognition of  the  rights  of  others,  systematized  methods,  regular  recre- 
ations and  an  intelligent  observance  of  the  injunction  "  to  fear  God 
and  keep  His  Commandments." 


LLOYD  NASH 

NASH,  LLOYD,  owner  and  manager  of  extensive  farm  lands, 
mills  and  ice  and  cider  industries  and  former  State  senator 
and  representative,  was  born  in  Westport,  Fairfield  County, 
Connecticut,  February  18th,  1865.  The  family  comes  from  a  long  and 
distinguished  line  of  ancestors,  beginning  in  America  with  Edward 
Nash,  who  came  from  England  in  1652,  and  settled  in  Norwalk, 
Connecticut.  John  Nash,  son  of  Edward  Nash,  was  the  first  English 
male  child  born  in  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  and  the  family  have  been 
prominent  in  the  industrial,  social,  and  political  life  of  Fairfield 
County  from  earliest  times.  Lloyd  Nash  is  the  son  of  Edward 
Hawkes  Nash,  a  miller  and  farmer  who  conducted  the  planing  and 
grist  mills  which  the  son  now  manages.  Edward  Nash  was  a  most 
ambitious  and  industrious  man  of  a  decidedly  religious  and  philan- 
thropic temperament.  His  wife,  Lloyd  Nash's  mother,  was  Margaret 
Newkirk  Williams  who,  although  she  died  when  her  son  was  but  six 
years  old,  exerted  a  strong  moral  and  spiritual  influence  upon  his 
life.  Through  her  he  is  in  the  fifth  generation  of  descent  from 
William  Williams,  who  served  in  the  Revolution  under  Capt.  Godfrey 
and  Col.  Dimon. 

As  a  boy  Lloyd  Nash  was  strong  and  robust  and  his  greatest 
interest  was  in  machinery,  animals  and  music.  He  attended  the 
common  schools,  took  a  course  in  business  college  and  began  to  work 
upon  his  father's  farm  when  very  young  and  developed  such  remark- 
able executive  ability  that,  at  fourteen,  he  was  put  in  charge  of  the 
farm  and  the  various  mills.  He  also  had  some  experience  in  a  sash 
and  blind  factory  and  thus  learned  the  mastery  of  many  kinds  of  work. 
He  succeeded  his  father  in  the  management  of  the  extensive  industries, 
and  has  added  to  the  estates  and  developed  a  large  and  prosperous 
business.  At  various  times  Mr.  Nash  has  held  important  business  posi- 
tions outside  of  his  town.  From  1890  to  1899  he  was  vice-president  of 
the  Westport  and  Saugatuck  Street  Railway  Company  and  of  the 
Street  Railway  Company  in  Petersburg,  Virginia.  For  several  years 

288 


LLOYD  NASH.  291 

he  was  the  second  vice-president  of  the  Franklin  Society  of  Home 
Building  and  Savings  in  New  York. 

On  April  6th,  1885,  Mr.  Nash  married  Charlotte  Helen  Colt, 
whose  first  maternal  ancestor  in  this  country  was  John  Pratt,  who 
settled  in  Massachusetts  in  1632.  Four  children  have  been  born  of 
this  union  of  whom  two,  a  son,  Edward  Colt,  born  February  15th, 
1887,  and  a  daughter,  Louise  Helen,  born  September  llth,  1888,  are 
now  living.  In  1886,  Mr.  Nash,  who  is  an  Episcopalian  in  creed, 
was  made  a  vestryman  of  Christ  Church,  Westport,  and  he  has  held 
this  office  ever  since.  In  politics  he  has  always  been  a  Republican  and 
in  1900  he  was  elected  representative.  During  his  term  in  that 
office  he  was  on  the  committee  on  banks,  and  when  in  1902  he  was 
elected  State  senator  he  became  chairman  of  the  committee  on  banks 
and  the  committee  on  woman's  suffrage  and  a  member  of  the  com- 
mittee on  senate  appointments  and  of  the  committee  on  contingent 
expenses.  He  has  been  prominent  in  town  and  county  affairs  and  was 
for  two  years  chairman  of  the  local  fire  district  committee.  His 
favorite  amusements  out  of  doors  are  driving  and  riding,  hunting 
and  fishing. 

The  greatest  cause  for  regret  in  Mr.  Nash's  life  has  been  the  lack 
of  greater  educational  advantages  in  his  youth.  To  young  men  he 
says :  "  Establish  habits  of  economy,  industry,  and  above  all  honesty 
and  improve  the  opportunities  given  by  our  public  schools.  Attend 
church  regularly  and  strive  to  live  up  to  the  Golden  Rule." 


CARL  AXEL  HARSTROM 

HARSTROM,  CARL  AXEL,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  educator,  the  head 
of  The  Harstrom  School,  of  Norwalk,  Fairfield  County, 
Connecticut,  is  a  native  of  Westeras,  Sweden,  where  he  was 
born  December  20th,  1863.  His  parents  were  Carl  Gustaf  and  Amelia 
Adolphina  Fosberg  Harstrom,  the  former  a  manufacturer  in  Sweden 
who  brought  his  family  to  America  in  1872,  when  Carl  Axel  was  nine 
years  of  age.  The  boy  was  given  a  good  preliminary  education  and 
graduated  from  the  Peekskill  (N.  Y.)  Military  Academy  in  1880. 
He  then  taught  school  for  two  years,  at  the  end  of  which  he  entered 
Hobart  College,  where  he  took  his  A.B.  degree  in  1886  as  valedictory 
orator  of  his  class  and  with  the  honor  of  "  magna  cum  laude."  He 
took  the  degree  of  M.A.  at  Hobart  in  1889. 

After  an  experience  of  three  years'  duration  as  instructor  and 
headmaster  at  the  Peekskill  Academy  and  an  experience  of  four  years 
as  principal  of  the  Vienland  Preparatory  School,  Professor  Harstrom 
came  to  Norwalk  in  1891  to  be  headmaster  of  the  Norwalk  Military 
Institute.  His  success  as  the  head  of  a  boys'  school  was  so  great 
and  the  office  so  congenial  that  in  1893  he  established  his  own  well 
known  school  in  Norwalk,  The  Harstrom  School,  a  private  prepara- 
tory school  for  boys.  He  is  still  the  active  head  of  this  school,  which 
has  been  highly  successful  in  every  way  and  now  numbers  sixty  pupils 
and  nine  instructors.  At  the  present  time  seventy-five  o'f  Professor 
Harstrom's  boys  are  in  Yale  University.  The  position  of  the  school 
in  the  educational  world  is  unique  in  that  it  affords  a  period  of  transi- 
tion between  the  cloistered  private  school  with  its  many  restrictions 
and  college  with  its  comparative  freedom.  It  aims  to  prepare  its 
pupils  not  only  for  college  entrance  examinations,  but  for  life  and  its 
practical  experiences  by  gradually  developing  the  responsibilities  of 
the  individual. 

Although  Professor  Harstrom  has  been  an  educator  since  the 
close  of  his  academic  days  and  even  before  they  began  he  has  been 
a  student  during  all  the  time  he  has  been  teaching,  and  from  1896 

292 


GAEL  AXEL   HARSTROM.  293 

to  1899  he  studied  in  the  Graduate  School  of  Yale  University,  where 
he  received  the  degree  of  Ph.D.  in  1899.  He  has  also  spent  much 
time  in  extensive  and  profitable  travels  in  Europe. 

While  in  college  Professor  Harstrom  was  made  a  member  of  the 
Theta  Delta  Chi  fraternity  and  from  1894  to  1900  he  was  president 
of  that  fraternity.  During  that  five  years  he  was  in  constant  touch 
with  from  fifteen  to  thirty  young  men  in  each  of  twenty-four  dif- 
ferent colleges  scattered  from  Maine  to  Minnesota,  every  one  of  whom 
he  knew  personally.  Of  his  administration  the  fraternity  organ  "  The 
Shield  "  said  that  it  was  "  marked  by  steady  organization  of  work,  in- 
timate knowledge  of  details,  exhaustless  patience  and  tact  and  a  self- 
sacrificing  devotion  which  is  as  unobtrusive  as  it  is  noble  and  fruit- 
ful. His  election  to  five  successive  terms  is  without  precedent  and 
is  received  with  satisfaction  and  enthusiasm  by  all  in  touch  with 
current  affairs."  In  this  work  and  in  his  headship  of  a  strong  school 
for  boys  Professor  Harstrom  has  had  peculiar  opportunity  for  know- 
ing and  guiding  young  men  and  he  has  proved  particularly  fitted  for 
Ms  responsibilities. 

Carl  Harstrom  is  a  member  of  the  American  Philological  Asso- 
ciation, the  Society  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa,  the  Yale  Club  of  New  York, 
the  Norwalk  Club,  and  the  Knob  Outing  Club  of  Norwalk.  He  is  a 
member  of  Grace  Church  (Episcopal)  and  has  been  a  vestryman  in 
that  church  since  1895.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and,  although 
he  has  never  held  public  office,  he  is  keenly  interested  in  all  the  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  He  is  frequently  called  upon  as  an  after-dinner 
speaker,  his  ease  and  wit  in  that  capacity  being  well  known. 

On  June  20th,  1888,  Professor  Harstrom  married  Lee  Selden  Par- 
tridge of  Phelps,  New  York.  Two  children  have  been  born  to  them, 
a  daughter,  Frances,  born  in  1890,  and  a  son,  Carl  Eric,  born  in 
1892.  Mrs.  Harstrom  is  a  descendant  of  Thomas  Selden  who  set- 
tled in  Hartford  in  1639  and  of  Colonel  Samuel  Selden  of  Hadlyme, 
Connecticut,  who  commanded  a  regiment  under  Washington  in  the 
Kevolutionary  War,  was  taken  prisoner  and  died  in  the  enemy's  hands 
in  1776.  The  Harstroms  make  their  home  in  Norwalk  the  year 
around. 


HENRY   F.  SHOEMAKER 

A     LTHOUGH  a  Pennsylvania!!  by  birth,  Mr.  Henry  F.  Shoe- 
r\      maker,  has,  through  many  years  residence  in  Connecticut, 
entitled  himself  to  be  numbered  among  the  sons  of  the  latter 
State.    He  was  born  in  Schuylkill  Haven,  Schuylkill  County,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  28th  of  March,  1845,  being  the  second  son  of  John 
Wise  and  Mary  Brock  Shoemaker.    Both  his  father  and  mother  were 
members  of  the  oldest  families  in  the  Keystone  State.     The  Shoe- 
maker family  is  numbered  among  the  founders  of  the  historic  town  of 
Germantown,  in  1685. 

Mr.  Shoemaker  was  educated  at  private  schools  in  his  native 
town,  and  later  attended  the  Genesee  Seminary  at  Lima,  N.  Y., 
which  he  left  in  1861  to  enter  the  army,  serving  with  General  McCler- 
nand's  staff  in  such  important  engagements  as  the  Battle  of  Shiloh. 
Soon  after  his  return  from  his  first  term  of  service  in  the  army 
the  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  threatened  with  General  Lee's  invasion, 
and  Mr.  Shoemaker  organized  a  company  at  his  father's  coal  mines, 
of  which  he  was  elected  captain,  and  saw  considerable  service  during 
the  memorable  year  of  1863,  which  culminated  in  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg. About  this  time  Mr.  Shoemaker  lost  his  father  and  was  com- 
pelled to  take  up  the  latter's  large  coal  mining  interests,  which  re- 
sulted in  his  removing  to  Philadelphia  in  1868,  where  he  resided  for 
the  following  ten  years.  In  1878  he  became  connected  with  several 
railroad  corporations,  including  the  construction  of  the  Buffalo  & 
State  Line  Eailroad,  now  the  Buffalo,  Eochester  &  Pittsburg,  which 
eventually  caused  him  to  move  to  New  York.  The  Metropolis  proved 
an  ample  field  for  Mr.  Shoemaker's  activities,  and  he  became  con- 
nected with  a  number  of  successful  enterprises,  among  them  the 
Wheeling  &  Lake  Erie  E.  E.,  Cleveland,  Lorain  &  Wheeling  E.  E.,  and 
the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  &  Dayton  By.,  of  which  latter  system  he  was 
chairman  for  nearly  twenty  years,  retiring  July,  1904.  In  addition, 
he  has  been  connected  with  many  banks  and  trust  companies,  being 
a  director  of  the  Chatham  National  Bank,  the  Battery  Park  Bank,  the 

294 


HENRY   F.    SHOEMAKER.  295 

North  American  Trust  Company,  Trust  Company  of  America,  Van 
Norden  Trust  Company,  the  Century  Realty  Company,  and  is  also  a 
director  of  several  coal  and  industrial  companies. 

Mr.  Shoemaker  divides  his  time  between  his  town  house,  No.  26 
West  53d  Street,  New  York,  and  his  beautiful  Connecticut  home  at 
Riverside-on-the-Sound,  which  is  built  on  a  high  bluff  overlooking 
the  water  and  commands  a  magnificent  view  of  the  Sound  and  Long 
Island  in  the  distance.  This  country  seat  is  considered  by  many  to 
be  among  the  finest  along  the  Sound.  Mr.  Shoemaker  was  married  in 
1874  to  Blanche,  only  daughter  of  Col.  Jas.  W.  Quiggle,  LL.D.,  who 
was  a  prominent  lawyer  in  Philadelphia,  and  three  children  have  been 
born  of  this  marriage,  two  boys  who  are  engaged  in  the  hanking 
business  in  New  York,  and  a  daughter.  Mr.  Shoemaker  is  a  member 
of  the  Metropolitan,  Union  League,  New  York  Yacht,  Riding,  Lotus, 
Automobile  of  America,  and  Lawyers'  Clubs  of  New  York;  the  Sons 
of  the  Revolution,  as  well  as  belonging  to  the  Fairfield  Golf  and 
Riverside  Yacht  Clubs  of  Connecticut. 


15 


LEWIS  ANGEL   CORBIN 

CORBIN,  LEWIS  ANGEL,  late  builder  and  manufacturer  of 
Rockville,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Dudley,  Massachusetts,  on 
the  18th  of  September,  1822.  He  was  a  descendant  of  Clement 
Corbin  who  came  from  England  and  settled  in  Woodstock,  Connecticut, 
in  Colonial  days.  Mr.  Corbin's  father  was  Lewis  Corbin,  a  stone 
worker  of  Dudley.  His  mother  was  Mary  Sayles.  As  his  father  died 
when  he  was  a  young  man,  Mr.  Corbin  began  early  to  earn  his  own 
living,  and  to  learn  the  lesson  of  self-reliance.  He  attended  the  dis- 
trict school  a  few  months  in  the  year,  but  spent  more  time  at  the 
plow  than  over  the  desk.  Hoping  to  earn  more  money  Mr.  Corbin, 
in  1841,  started  through  New  York  State,  seeking  employment  in  Troy, 
Albany,  and  other  cities  and  towns.  Disappointments  multiplied  in 
every  town,  until  finally  he  was  engaged  by  a  Mr.  Warren  of  Warrens- 
burg,  N.  Y.,  to  perform  a  variety  of  tasks  from  four  in  the  morning 
until  nine  at  night.  Mr.  Corbin  persisted  in  this  arduous  work  for 
six  months,  when  he  returned  to  his  native  town  to  learn  the  trade 
of  stone-cutting. 

For  three  years  Mr.  Corbin  worked  on  the  great  mills  being  built 
in  Webster,  Southbridge,  Charlton,  and  Oxford,  Massachusetts,  and 
in  Thompson,  Connecticut,  and  his  success  at  his  father's  trade  was 
as  immediate  as  it  was  great.  In  1846  he  first  came  to  Eockville  to 
be  employed  on  the  Rock  Mill,  and  the  following  year  he  moved  his 
family  to  that  town  and  took  charge  of  the  building  of  the  American 
Mills.  Many  other  large  and  important  contracts  followed,  but  there 
were  many  discouraging  lulls  in  the  building  business.  In  1851,  when 
the  promise  of  gold  in  California  lured  so  many  to  the  Pacific  Coast, 
Mr.  Corbin  went  with  a  number  of  fellow  townsmen  to  try  his  luck  at 
mining.  He  remained  only  about  two  years,  and  upon  his  return  to 
Rockville  built  his  present  house  and  settled  down  to  his  former  trade. 
Mr.  Corbin's  keen  judgment  soon  foresaw  the  future  opportunity 
for  the  manufacture  of  envelopes,  and  he  became  interested  in  per- 
fecting a  machine  for  that  purpose.  In  1854  he  became  a  one-third 

296 


trt/u^yi/ 


LEWIS     ANGEL     CORBIN.  299 

owner  in  the  firm  that  later  became  White  &  Corbin,  the  pioneers  of 
the  envelope  industry.  The  growth  of  the  business  was  slow,  and  Mr. 
Corbin  kept  up  his  building  contracts,  one  of  the  most  important  at 
this  period  being  that  for  the  Congregational  Church  in  Great  Bar- 
ington,  Massachusetts.  Ever  ambitious,  Mr.  Corbin  added  flour  and 
grain  mills  to  those  for  the  manufacture  of  envelopes.  The  envelope 
business  increased  steadily,  new  factories  were  bought  up  and  built 
on  until  the  business  became  the  largest  of  its  kind  in  the  country. 
In  1898  the  White  &  Corbin  Company  amalgamated  with  the  United 
States  Envelope  Company,  and  Mr.  Corbin  retired  from  the  firm, 
since  when  he  has  been  busily  engaged  with  his  extensive  real  estate 
interests. 

In  politics  Mr.  Corbin  was  called  a  temperance  Republican.  His 
first  vote  was  cast  in  1844  for  Henry  Clay.  In  1856  he  joined  the 
Republican  party.  He  never  sought  office,  or  had  time  to  become 
a  politician.  In  1857  he  was  first  selectman  of  the  town  of  Vernon, 
and  he  has  also  been  town  assessor. 

President  of  the  White,  Corbin  Company,  Mr.  Corbin  was  also 
a  director  in  the  Rockville  Railroad,  and  president  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Methodist  Church  of  Rockville.  His  church  inter- 
ests were  very  strong,  and  he  was  both  a  loyal  worker  and  a  generous 
benefactor. 

Mr.  Corbin  was  twice  married.  In  1845  he  married  Mary 
Upham,  who  died  in  1900,  leaving  three  daughters.  In  June,  1902, 
Mr.  Corbin  married  Mrs.  Laura  Lord  Ellenwood. 

Through  his  whole  busy,  successful  life  Mr.  Corbin  met  and 
overcame  great  difficulties.  He  started  in  life  a  poor  country  boy 
with  scant  education  and  scantier  material  equipment.  He  created 
and  developed  two  large  business  enterprises,  and  he  amassed  a  for- 
tune ;  but  above  all  he  built  up  a  strong  character  and  a  clean  repu- 
tation. 

Mr.  Corbin  died  April  21st,  1906. 


CHARLES   PATTON   HOWARD 


HOWARD,  CHARLES  PATTON,  president  of  James  L, 
Howard  and  Company,  manufacturers  of  railway  supplies,  of 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  that  city  on  March  21st, 
1853,  the  son  of  Charles  F.  and  Catharine  Patton  Howard,  the  former 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Howard  firm.  On  his  father's  side,  Mr. 
Howard  is  descended  from  William  Howard,  who  came  from  England 
to  Braintree,  Massachusetts,  in  1635,  and  on  his  mother's  side  from 
Col.  Kobert  Patton,  who  belonged  to  a  Scotch-Irish  family  that  came 
from  Westport,  Ireland,  to  Philadelphia  in  1762.  Col.  Patton,  Mrs. 
Howard's  grandfather,  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  military  and 
civil  affairs  of  his  day.  He  served  in  the  Revolutionary  Army  under 
Washington  and  Lafayette,  was  an  original  member  of  the  Society 
of  the  Cincinnati,  and  was  the  first  postmaster  of  Philadelphia, 
appointed  by  Washington  in  1789,  a  position  which  he  held  con- 
tinuously for  thirty  years. 

Mr.  Howard  was  graduated  from  the  Hartford  Public  High 
School  in  1869,  then  had  one  year's  practical  experience  in  Colt's 
Armory  under  the  instruction  of  the  superintendent,  after  which  he 
entered  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology  in  Boston,  where 
he  was  graduated  in  1874,  in  the  civil  engineering  course. 

As  soon  as  his  technical  education  was  completed,  Mr.  Howard 
returned  to  Hartford  and  entered  the  firm  of  James  L.  Howard  & 
Co.  Commencing  as  assistant  to  the  superintendent,  in  1877  he  was 
made  secretary.  In  1905  he  was  elected  vice-president,  and  in  1907 
president  of  the  company,  the  last  promotion  ensuing  upon  the  death 
of  James  L.  Howard.  The  company  has  a  capital  of  $200,000.00,  and 
is  one  of  the  largest  concerns  of  its  kind  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
"United  States. 

Mr.  Howard  has  taken  out  about  twenty  patents  for  articles  and 
devices  connected  with  the  railway  supply  business.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  and  takes  an  active 

300 


CHARIiES  PATTON  HOWAKD.  301 

interest  in  all  matters  relating  to  engineering.  In  politics  he  is  a 
Kepublican. 

His  favorite  recreations  have  always  been  mountain  climbing 
and  similar  adventures.  Having  several  times  climbed  the  highest 
peaks  of  the  White  Mountains  and  the  Adirondacks,  in  1877  he 
climbed  three  of  the  principal  peaks  of  the  Alps.  These  were  the 
Breithorn  near  Zennatt  (13700  ft.),  Mont  Blanc  (15800  ft),  and 
the  Matterhorn  (14800  ft.).  An  account  of  the  latter  ascent  was 
published  in  Lippincott's  Magazine  for  September,  1879.  In  1889 
he  climbed  Mt.  Sneffles  in  Colorado  (14200  ft.),  the  sharpest  peak 
in  that  state,  and  also  visited  the  cliff  dwellings  in  the  Mancos  Canon. 
His  party  was  the  second  party  of  white  men  to  visit  the  principal 
ruins  called  the  Cliff  Palace,  which  had  been  discovered  only  the 
previous  winter  by  their  guide.  In  ]896  he  again  climbed  Mt. 
Sneffles,  and  also  Uncompahgre  Peak  (14400  ft.). 

He  has  always  been  interested  in  astronomy,  and  in  the  theory 
and  construction  of  the  telescope.  These  tastes  were  inherited  from 
his  father,  who  after  using  a  small  telescope  for  several  years,  bought 
a  4^4-inch  Fitz  telescope  in  1858,  when  an  increased  interest  in 
astronomy  was  aroused  by  the  appearance  of  Donati's  Comet.  This 
telescope  served  for  Mr.  Howard's  use  until  1880,  when  he  replaced 
it  in  his  private  observatory  by  a  much  better  one,  having  an  object 
glass  9.4  inches  in  clear  aperture,  made  by  Alvan  Clark.  This  is 
one  of  the  most  perfect  telescopes  in  existence. 

In  1880  Mr.  Howard  undertook  the  construction  of  a  3y2-inch 
telescope  object  glass,  doing  all  the  work  himself.  As  the  art  had  to 
be  learned,  with  many  difficulties  to  overcome,  it  was  not  until  1885 
that  this  object  glass  was  brought  to  such  perfection,  that  when 
rigidly  tested,  no  error  could  be  found  in  it.  Nearly  all  the  work  was 
done  evenings  and  holidays.  Few  people  realize  the  extreme  dif- 
ficulty of  working  an  object  glass  to  such  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 
It  means,  no  matter  how  large  or  small  the  object  glass  is,  that  when 
it  is  pointed  at  a  star,  it  must  concentrate  all  the  light  that  enters 
it,  within  a  microscopically  small  circle,  at  the  focus,  only  three 
ten-thousandths  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 

In  1886  Mr.  Howard  commenced  work  on  a  41/2-inch  object 
glass,  of  an  entirely  different  form  from  the  other.  This  objective 
was  finished  in  1889.  Soon  after  its  completion,  he  showed  it  to 


302  CHAELES  PATTON  HOWARD. 

the  Clarks  in  Cambridgeport,  and  it  was  tested  by  Mr.  Alvan  G. 
Clark.  After  Mr.  Clark's  death,  Mr.  Lundin,  who  had  been  his  fore- 
man for  many  years,  said  to  Mr.  Howard,  "Among  ourselves,  Clark 
said  that  object  glass  of  yours  was  the  best  one  he  ever  tested  that 
we  did  not  make  ourselves." 

The  next  object  glass  undertaken,  of  7  inches  aperture,  proved  a 
failure,  because  the  two  kinds  of  glass  used  were  not  suitable.  How- 
ever, much  practical  experience  was  gained. 

In  1903  another  7-inch  object  glass  was  completed  by  Mr. 
Howard.  The  following  observation  of  difficult  objects  illustrates 
its  quality :  On  May  12th,  1903,  three  canals  on  Mars  (Ulysses,  Gor- 
gon and  Brontes),  were  distinctly  and  steadily  seen.  On  Feb.  5th, 
1904,  the  Companion  of  Sirius  was  steadily  and  easily  seen  at  a  dis- 
tance of  only  six  and  a  half  seconds  from  Sirius.  Only  a  few  telescope 
makers  in  the  world  can  produce  an  object  glass  of  such  perfection. 

In  1905,  having  waited  two  years  for  the  desired  quality  of 
glass  to  be  produced  by  the  manufacturers,  Mr.  Howard  obtained  from 
Jena  in  Germany  two  discs  of  glass  for  a  12-inch  objective.  He  has 
calculated  the  curvatures  of  the  surfaces  for  the  several  possible 
forms  that  such  an  object  glass  can  take  and  has  determined  which 
form  is  the  best;  but  the  labor  of  constructing  a  glass  of  this  size 
promises  to  prove  so  great  that  he  will  probably  not  undertake  it. 

In  the  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  December,  1885,  is  an  article 
by  Mr.  Howard  on  the  Kefracting  Telescope.  He  also  published  a 
paper  on  the  Orbit  of  the  Companion  of  Sirius,  in  the  Astronomical 
Journal  for  Feb.  4th,  1891,  and  on  A  Graphical  Method  of  Determin- 
ing the  Apparent  Orbits  of  Binary  Stars,  in  Astronomy  and  Astro- 
physics for  June,  1894. 

In  1900  he  accompanied  President  Luther  of  Trinity  College  to 
Winton,  North  Carolina,  to  observe  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  of 
May  28th.  Using  a  little  two-inch  telescope  magnifying  18  times 
and  having  a  field  of  view  of  2^  degrees,  he  had  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  views  of  the  sun's  corona  on  record.  Several  of  the 
objects  seen  by  him  with  perfect  ease  and  steadiness  standing  out 
from  the  sun's  limb,  were  not  seen  by  other  observers,  and  had  not 
been  seen  at  previous  eclipses.  A  full  description  of  these  observations 
was  published  in  Popular  Astronomy  for  December,  1900,  and  also 
in  an  illustrated  pamphlet  which  was  sent  to  many  astronomers  in 


CHARLES  PATTON  HOWARD.  303 

January,  1901,  hoping  that  some  of  them  might  be  going  to  the 
Sumatra  eclipse  of  that  year. 

In  1905  he  observed  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun  at  Burgos, 
Spain,  accompanied  by  Prof.  Charles  S.  Hastings,  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity, both  using  similar  telescopes  of  about  3  inches  aperture, 
with  magnifying  power  of  20  and  'field  view  of  2*4  degrees.  Com- 
paring notes  as  they  stood  at  their  telescopes,  the  instant  the  eclipse 
was  over,  it  was  found  that  both  had  seen  the  corona  exactly  alike. 
They  distinctly  saw  it  to  be  a  filamentous  structure  completely  sur- 
rounding the  sun  as  far  out  as  three  radii.  To  this  extent  Mr. 
Howard's  observations  of  1900  were  confirmed,  but  the  other  objects 
then  so  clearly  seen  were  absent.  He  published  an  account  of  these 
last  observations  in  Popular  Astronomy  for  December,  1905. 

That  the  corona  of  1905  would  prove  decidedly  different  from 
that  of  1900  was  expected,  because  the  former  occurred  at  the  time 
of  sun  spot  maximum,  and  the  latter  at  sun  spot  minimum.  If,  there- 
fore, the  objects  seen  in  1900  have  real  existence,  they  are  peculiar  to 
minimum  coronas.  Mr.  Howard  is  confident  that  he  made  no  mis- 
take in  his  observations  of  1900.  This  confidence  is  justified  not 
only  because  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  telescopes,  but  also  be- 
cause in  making  a  change  in  focal  adjustment,  he  saw  with  perfect 
distinctness  that  the  objects  in  question  went  in  and  out  of  focus 
exactly  with  the  coronal  filaments;  a  thing  that  could  not  have 
occurred  had  they  not  been  real  objects  on  the  sun. 

To  Mr.  Howard  the  pursuit  of  astronomy  as  a  hobby  has  been  the 
source  of  endless  interest. 

His  home  is  at  116  Farmington  Ave.,  Hartford. 


SAMUEL    SIMPSON 

SIMPSON,    SAMUEL,    A.M.,    Ph.D.,    associate    professor    of 
American  church  history  in  the  Hartford  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Congregational  clergyman,  and  educator,  is  the  son  of 
Thomas  and  Sarah  Gibson  Simpson.    Both  of  his  parents  were  natives 
of  the  province  of  Ulster,  in  Ireland,  and  were  of  Scotch  descent  and 
both  came  to  America  between  1840  and  1850  and  settled  in  Michigan 
where  they  were  married,  and  where  Samuel  Simpson  was  born  in  the 
town  of  Centerville,  St.  Joseph  County,  November  24th,  1868. 

The  public  schools  of  Centerville  afforded  Mr.  Simpson's  primary 
education  and  fitted  him  for  college.  He  then  entered  Olivet  College, 
where  he  took  his  A.B.  degree  in  1891  and  his  A.M.  degree  in  1894. 
In  1894  also  he  was  graduated  from  Oberlin  Theological  Seminary 
with  the  degree  of  B.D.,  and  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church. 

He  entered  immediately  upon  his  first  pastorate  —  the  Congre- 
gational Church  of  Garner,  Iowa,  where  he  remained  for  two  years. 
The  two  following  years  he  spent  in  postgraduate  work  in  church 
history  at  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary.  At  the  close  of  this 
period  of  study  he  became  pastor  of  a  church  in  Chardon,  Ohio, 
where  he  remained  from  1898  to  1900.  Upon  resigning  his  second 
pastorate  Mr.  Simpson  went  abroad  and  spent  a  year  in  studying 
history  and  philosophy  at  the  University  of  Berlin.  Eeturning  to 
Hartford  he  took  his  Ph.D.  at  the  Theological  Seminary  in  1902,  and 
since  that  date  has  been  associate  professor  of  American  church  his- 
tory at  that  institution.  In  1902  he  published  his  "  Life  of  Ulrich 
Zwingli,  the  Swiss  Patriot  and  Reformer." 

Dr.  Simpson's  family  consists  of  a  wife  and  one  child.  Mrs. 
Simpson  was  Edith  Bishop  Sumner,  daughter  of  the  late  William 
and  Juliette  Sumner  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  whom  he  married  in 
Hartford,  November  17th,  1898.  Their  home  is  at  250  Collins 
Street,  Hartford.  Mr.  Simpson  gives  his  time  to  his  professional 
duties,  to  private  study,  and  to  church  work,  and  is  a  member  of 
several  clubs.  He  is  a  Republican  in  politics. 

304 


MELANCTHON   WILLIAMS   JACOBUS 

JACOBUS,  MELANCTHON  WILLIAMS,  D.D.,  dean  and  pro- 
fessor of  New  Testament  Exegesis  and  Criticism  in  the  Hart- 
ford Theological  Seminary,  educator,  clergyman,  author,  was 
born  in  Allegheny  City,  Pennsylvania,  December  15th,  1855,  the  son 
of  Melancthon  Williams  and  Sarah  Hayes  Jacobus.  His  father, 
whose  profession  and  name  he  inherits,  was  a  Presbyterian  clergyman 
and  a  professor  of  theology,  holding  the  chair  of  Oriental  and  Biblical 
Literature  in  the  Western  Theological  Seminary  in  Allegheny  City, 
Pennsylvania,  from  1851  to  1876.  He  was  moderator  of  the  last  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  the  Old  School  Branch  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  together  with  Dr.  Philemon  Fowler,  last  moderator  of  the  New 
School  Branch,  presided  over  the  first  assembly  of  the  Eeunited 
Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  the  first  secretary  of  the  Sustentation 
Fund  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  also  author  of  the  series 
of  commentaries  known  as  "  Notes  on  the  Gospels,"  books  quite 
popular  in  their  day.  Dr.  Jacobus  describes  his  mother  as  a  "  saintly 
woman,  full  of  grave  and  noble  tenderness."  His  earliest  paternal 
ancestor  was  Roelff  Jacobus,  who  is  supposed  to  have  emigrated  from 
Holland  before  1690  and  settled  in  Essex  County,  New  Jersey.  His 
earliest  maternal  ancestor  was  Obadiah  Bruen,  who  came  from  Eng- 
land to  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  in  1640,  was  a  member  of  the 
organization  called  "  Governor  and  Company  of  the  English  Colony  of 
Connecticut,"  to  which  Charles  II.  granted  the  Charter,  was  a  com- 
missioner for  New  London  in  1665,  a  deputy  at  Hartford,  and  a  clerk 
of  the  New  London  County  Court.  Dr.  Jacobus  is  also  descended 
from  Joran  Kyn,  a  soldier  in  the  Governor's  Life  Guard  at  Tinicum 
in  1644,  and  afterwards  the  chief  colonist  at  Upland,  Pennsylvania; 
from  John  Ogden,  Governor  of  the  Colony  of  Elizabeth  Town,  1647, 
founder  of  Northampton,  Connecticut,  member  of  the  General  As- 
sembly, and  one  of  those  to  whom  Charles  II.  granted  the  Charter  of 
Connecticut;  and  from  Thomas  Hayes,  sergeant  of  militia  in  1677, 
and  Samuel  Hayes,  a  distinguished  officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 
The  winters  of  Dr.  Jacobus*  boyhood  were  spent  in  the  city  and 

307 


308  MELANCTHON    WILLIAMS    GACOBUS 

the  summers  in  the  country.  He  was  educated  at  the  Newell  Institute 
in  Pittsburg,  the  Western  University  of  Pennyslvania,  and  matricu- 
lated at  Princeton  College  in  1873.  He  graduated  from  Princeton 
with  honors  in  1877  and  entered  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  in 
the  fall  of  1878,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1881.  From  1881  to  1884 
he  studied  abroad  at  Gottingen  and  Berlin,  Germany.  Upon  his  re- 
turn to  America  in  1884  he  entered  upon  his  first  and  only  pastorate, 
the  Oxford  Presbyterian  Church,  Oxford,  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
remained  until  1891. 

Since  1891  Dr.  Jacobus  has  been  professor  of  New  Testament 
Exegesis  and  Criticism  on  the  Hosmer  Foundation  in  the  Hartford 
Theological  Seminary.  In  1890  he  became  a  trustee  of  Princeton 
University.  In  1892  he  was  granted  the  honorary  degree  of  D.D.  by 
Lafayette  College.  He  was  appointed  lecturer  on  the  Stone  Founda- 
tion at  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  for  the  year  1897-8,  and 
lecturer  on  the  New  Testament  at  Mt.  Holyoke  College  for  the  years 
1901  and  1902.  From  1899  to  1900  he  was  acting  pastor  of  the 
Center  Congregational  Church,  Hartford.  From  1902  to  1903  he 
was  acting  president  of  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  and  was 
offered  the  presidency  which  he  declined,  accepting,  however,  the 
office  of  dean  which  he  still  retains. 

Dr.  Jacobus  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution, 
the  Holland  Society  of  New  York,  the  American  Philological  Associa- 
tion, the  Archaeological  Society  of  Hartford,  the  Twentieth  Century 
Club  of  Hartford,  of  which  he  is  president  (1905-1906),  and  the 
University  Club  of  Hartford,  of  which  he  is  the  first  president 
(1906-1907).  In  politics  he  is  a  Eepublican.  He  is  an  advocate 
of  athletics  and  when  at  Princeton  played  on  the  'Varsity 
baseball  nine.  On  January  8th,  1896,  Dr.  Jacobus  married  Clara 
May  Cooley  of  Hartford.  Three  children  have  been  born  to 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Jacobus,  two  of  whom  are  now  living.  In  1900  Dr. 
Jacobus  published  his  "  Stone  Foundation  Lectures  "  under  the  title 
"A  Problem  in  New  Testament  Criticism,"  and  he  has  been  a  fre- 
quent contributor  to  magazines.  He  is  editor-in-chief  of  the  "  Stand- 
ard Bible  Dictionary,"  a  forthcoming  work  of  great  interest  and  im- 
portance to  all  Bible  students.  As  a  clergyman  of  the  Congregational 
Church,  as  a  teacher,  a  Bible  student,  and  as  a  writer  and  scholar 
Dr.  Jacobus  holds  a  high  and  honored  place. 


JOHN  H.  FERRIS 

FERRIS,  JOHN  H.,  late  business  man,  ex-senator,  banker  and 
leader  in  social,  philanthropic  and  civic  affairs,  of   South 
Norwalk,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Darien, 
Connecticut,  October  22d,  1842,  and  died  at  his  late  home  in  South 
Norwalk,  April  10th,  1904.     He  was  descended  from  some  of  the 
prominent  early  settlers  of  New  England  and  New  York  State,  men 
of  great  courage  and  enterprise  who  left  a  deep  and  honorable  im- 
pression on  their  generation  just  as  Mr.  Ferris  has  done  in  later 
times. 

The  early  days  of  Mr.  Ferris'  life  were  spent  in  the  village  of 
his  birth,  Darien,  and  it  was  in  the  public  schools  of  that  town  that 
he  received  his  education.  As  soon  as  he  left  school  he  sought  employ- 
ment in  South  Norwalk  which  was  his  home  and  the  heart  of  his 
business  and  public  interests  from  that  time  until  his  death.  In  the 
early  sixties  he  embarked  in  the  grocery  business  in  partnership 
with  the  late  John  Hutchins. 

In  1870  Mr.  Ferris  established  himself  in  the  coal,  fuel,  and 
general  contracting  supply  business  and  soon  built  up  a  large  and 
profitable  trade.  He  continued  in  this  business  during  the  rest  of  his 
active  business  life  and  gained  a  wide  reputation  for  reliable  methods 
and  honorable  success.  He  was  also  actively  interested  in  many  other 
business  institutions  and  was  especially  prominent  in  banking  circles. 
He  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  City  National  Bank  of  South  Nor- 
walk, and  was  its  president  until  a  short  time  before  his  death.  He 
was  vice-president  of  the  South  Norwalk  Savings  Bank,  which  office 
he  held  up  to  the  very  time  of  his  death.  He  was  a  director  and 
ex-president  of  the  Norwalk  Steamboat  Company,  a  director  of  the 
Norwalk  Iron  Works  Company,  the  Norwalk  Lock  Company,  the 
former  Norwalk  Gas  Company,  the  Norwalk  Building,  Loan  and 
Investment  Association,  and  the  Manhattan  Rubber  Company  of 
New  York. 

309 


310  JOHN    H.    FERRIS. 

Many  positions  of  public  responsibility  and  preferment  were  given 
to  Mr.  Ferris,  for  his  fellow  townsmen  were  quick  to  recognize  his 
powers  of  leadership,  his  loyalty  and  trustworthiness  just  as  they 
had  measured  his  business  ability  and  honesty.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  board  of  councilmen  for  many  years  and  was  a  zealous  advocate 
of  the  municipal  lighting  plant  which  has  proven  so  efficient,  eco- 
nomical and  profitable.  He  was  treasurer  of  the  city  of  South 
Norwalk  for  a  period  of  twelve  years.  In  the  years  1887  and  1889 
he  served  his  town  in  the  General  Assembly  and  his  district  as  state 
senator.  Very  suitably  he  was  chairman  of  the  house  committee  on 
banks  and  won  a  unique  reputation  for  sound  financiering.  He  was 
president  pro  tern  of  the  Senate  and  acted  as  governor  in  the  frequent 
absences  of  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor.  In  office  or  out  he 
was  always  a  loyal  and  strong  Kepublican  and  did  much  to  save  his 
party  from  defeat  on  more  than  one  occasion. 

Public  philanthropy  received  much  of  Mr.  Ferris'  attention  and 
sincere  interest.  He  was  instrumental  in  establishing  a  hospital  for 
the  Norwalks  and  was  an  incorporator,  first  president  and  a  life 
director  of  the  Hospital  Association.  He  was  greatly  interested  in 
patriotic  and  historical  matters  and  gave  fully  of  time  and  labor  for 
public  memorials  and  monuments.  His  private  benevolences  and 
kindnesses  were  many  in  number  and  great  in  their  helpfulness. 

John  H.  Ferris  was  a  Christian  of  rare  fidelity  and  service.  He 
was  identified  officially  with  the  South  Norwalk  Congregational  church 
and  took  a  deep  and  active  interest  in  the  work  of  all  its  organiza- 
tions. He  was  Sunday-school  treasurer  for  many  years.  It  was 
largely  through  his  gifts  and  management  that  the  erection  of  the 
present  splendid  church  was  brought  about  and  it  was  through  his 
tireless  efforts  that  the  prosperity  and  fruitfulness  of  that  church 
were  so  greatly  increased  during  his  life. 

Socially  Mr.  Ferris  was  well  known  and  esteemed.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Norwalk  Club,  the  South  Norwalk  Club,  the  Knob 
Outing  Club,  St.  John's  Lodge  F.  and  A.  M.  of  Norwalk,  the  Pine 
Lodge  Club,  and  the  Norwalk  Yacht  Club.  He  was  an  experienced 
and  enthusiastic  yachtsman  and  the  owner  of  a  number  of  fine  pleasure 
yachts.  He  was  also  financially  interested  in  a  number  of  coasting 
vessels.  He  was  a  great  lover  of  fine  horses  and  took  genuine  pleasure 
in  driving  his  splendid  trotters. 


JOHN    H.    FERRIS.  311 

Mr.  Ferris  is  survived  by  a  wife  and  four  children.  His  three 
sons  are  Jesse  M.,  treasurer  of  the  Manhattan  Rubber  Company; 
Percy  E.,  a  skillful  electrician ;  and  Dr.  Charles  E.,  a  dentist  in  New 
York.  The  daughter  is  Mrs.  George  F.  Foote  of  South  Norwalk. 


ADOLPH  WEST   GILBERT 

GILBERT,  ADOLPH  WEST,  president  of  the  Pratt  and  Cady 
Company  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  president  of  the  Man- 
ufacturers' Bureau  of  Hartford  County,  was  born  in  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  September  5th,  1852.    His  father  was  Alfred  W.  Gilbert,  a 
civil  engineer,  who  was  city  engineer  of   Cincinnati,   and   a  man 
respected  for  his  honesty  and  thoroughness  in  all  his  undertakings. 
Mr.    Gilbert's   mother     was   Elizabeth   Eichards,   a   woman   of  fine 
character  and  strong,  ennobling  influence,  through  whom  he  is  a 
direct  descendant  of  the  first  Richards  in  this  country,  who  is  recorded 
in  Hartford  in  1636. 

The  first  eighteen  years  of  Adolph  Gilbert's  life  were  spent  in 
the  city  of  his  birth,  where  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  education  in 
the  public  schools.  He  was  studious  and  fond  of  reading,  taking 
especial  interest  in  books  of  travel  and  history.  Shakespeare  was  his 
most  constant  literary  companion.  After  completing  the  public  school 
course,  he  entered  Cornell  University,  where  he  studied  for  two  years, 
after  which  he  entered  his  father's  office  in  Cincinnati  as  "  rodman." 

His  entire  life  has  been  that  of  a  business  man,  devoted  to  engi- 
neering in  the  first  period  of  his  career,  but  to  manufacturing  during 
his  later  years. 

From  1893  to  1897  Mr.  Gilbert  was  a  contractor  in  St.  Louis 
and  from  1897  to  1899  he  was  identified  with  the  Rensselaer  Manufac- 
turing Company  of  Troy,  N.  Y.  In  1899,  he  came  to  Hartford  to 
take  the  position  of  manager  of  the  Pratt  and  Cady  Company.  In 
1900  he  was  made  vice-president  of  this  large  and  important  con- 
cern, and  in  February,  1906,  he  was  made  its  president. 

Since  1904  he  has  been  president  of  the  Manufacturers'  Bureau 
of  Hartford  County,  which  was  organized  in  that  year.  In  these  two 
positions  Mr.  Gilbert  stands  forth  as  a  leader  of  manufacturing  inter- 
ests in  the  State,  and  this  precedence  is  fully  deserved  by  his  fine  exec- 
utive ability  and  his  intimate  knowledge  of  all  the  details  of  conduct- 
ing and  developing  the  industry  of  which  he  is  a  "  captain." 

312 


ADOLPH  WEST  GILBERT  315 

In  private  life  Mr.  Gilbert  has  few  ties  and  simple  interests,  for 
he  is  a  man  who  gives  his  life  primarily  and  whole-heartedly  to  busi- 
ness. He  has  no  fraternal  ties,  and  his  only  club  connections  are  with 
the  Hartford  Club  and  the  Engineers'  Club  of  New  York.  In  politics 
he  has  always  been  and  always  expects  to  be  a  Republican.  In  creed 
he  agrees  with  his  family,  who  have  been  Swedenborgians  for  two  gen- 
erations. For  exercise  and  recreation  he  finds  driving  and  horse- 
back-riding most  helpful  and  enjoyable.  His  family  consists  of  a 
wife,  whom  he  married  October  14th,  1880,  and  one  child,  Edwin  C. 
Gilbert,  born  October  13th,  1881,  who  graduated  from  Yale  Medical 
School,  New  Haven,  June  1906.  Mrs.  Gilbert's  maiden  name  was 
Sarah  M.  Nelson. 

Mr.  Gilbert  advises  others  to  "  'do  cheerfully  and  quickly  what- 
ever there  is  for  you  to  do,  and  be  courteous  and  honest."  It  is  a 
privilege  to  read  in  those  words  the  partial  secret  of  Mr.  Gilbert's  great 
measure  of  success.  He  has  truly  exemplified  the  wisdom  and  value  of 
his  advice,  and  he  has  also  developed  qualities,  habits,  and  capabilities 
that  make  not  only  for  material  success,  but  for  prestige  and  leader- 
ship in  whatever  career  such  a  man  may  choose  for  himself. 


FRANKLIN   FARREL 

FARREL,  FRANKLIN",  who  may  justly  be  called  one  of  the 
most  capable  and  successful  captains  of  industry  of  the  age  in 
the  broadest  and  best  sense  of  that  much  misused  term,  has 
been  president  of  the  Farrel  Foundry  and  Machine  Company  of  An- 
sonia,  New  Haven  County,  Connecticut,  for  over  fifty  years,  and  is 
one  of  the  strongest  manufacturers  and  ablest  mechanics  in  Connecti- 
cut, as  well  as  a  prominent  churchman,  philanthropist  and  public 
benefactor.  He  was  born  in  Waterbury,  February  17th,  1828,  the 
grandson  of  Zebah  and  Mehitable  Benham  Farrel  and  the  son  of 
Almon  and  Ruth  Emma  Warner  Farrel.  His  father,  Almon  Farrel, 
was  an  expert  mill  builder,  mechanic  and  engineer,  who  did  more 
than  any  other  one  man  of  his  day  to  build  up  industrial  life  in  the 
Naugatuck  Valley  and  was  widely  honored  for  his  mechanical  genius, 
his  organizing  ability  and  his  good  citizenship.  He  was  president  of 
the  Farrel  Company  until  his  death  in  1857  and  was  generally  con- 
ceded to  be  the  best  millwright  in  the  state. 

The  boy  Franklin,  whose  career  was  to  follow  his  father's  so 
closely  in  intent  and  accomplishment,  spent  his  early  life  in  the  coun- 
try and  at  fourteen  began  to  learn  his  father's  trade  of  millwright. 
He  was  educated  at  the  common  schools  and  at  McKenzie's  School 
at  West  Point.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  went  to  Derby  to  assist  his 
father,  who  was  engaged  in  engineering  for  the  Derby  waterworks. 
The  following  year,  1845,  he  settled  in  what  is  now  Ansonia,  but  was 
at  that  time  farm  lands  which  he  helped  to  survey  and  lay  out  into 
homes  at  the  expense  of  much  difficult  labor. 

In  1849  he  entered  the  family  foundry  business  of  which  his 
father  was  the  developer  and  president  and  upon  his  father's  death,  in 
1857,  he  became  the  president  and  head  of  the  concern.  Through 
Franklin  Farrel's  able  financiering  and  capable  management  the  busi- 
ness has  grown  to  gigantic  proportions  and  is  now  one  of  the  largest 
in  the  United  States.  The  annual  consumption  of  metal  amounts  to 
over  twenty  thousand  tons  used  in  manufacturing  rolling  mills,  power 

316 


FRANKLIN  FABBEL.  317 

presses,  pulleys,  hydraulic  presses,  valves  and  many  important  kinds 
of  iron  and  brass  machinery.  Mr.  Farrel  has  given  his  entire  life  to 
the  business  and,  though  nearly  eighty  years  old,  he  still  spends  many 
hours  a  week  in  hard  labor  and  is  more  often  to  be  found  clad  in 
overalls  at  work  among  his  men  than  seated  in  his  splendid  office. 
His  greatest  pleasure  in  life  has  always  been  found  in  business  activi- 
ties and  he  is  interested  in  all  the  important  commercial  enterprises 
of  the  community.  He  is  a  director  in  the  Ansonia  National  Bank 
and  in  the  Colonial  Trust  Company  of  Waterbury,  a  trustee  of  the 
Seymour  Trust  Company,  president  of  the  H.  A.  Matthews  Manufac- 
turing Company  of  Seymour,  and  ex-president  of  the  Parrot  Silver 
and  Copper  Company  of  Butte,  Montana. 

Church  interests  and  public  charities  attract  much  of  Franklin 
Farrel's  time,  thought  and  generosity.  He  is  a  devoted  member  and 
senior  warden  of  Christ  Church,  Episcopal,  in  Ansonia,  having  held 
that  position  for  twenty  years.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the 
American  Kevolution,  the  Engineers  Club  of  New  York,  the  Ameri- 
can Institute  of  Mining  Engineers  and  of  the  Union  League  Club  of 
New  York.  In  politics  he  is  a  Kepublican.  He  is  a  man  of  simple 
tastes  and  habits,  a  hard  worker  who  cares  little  for  the  pleasures  and 
luxuries  of  life,  but  who  finds  keenest  happiness  in  his  business. 

In  1850  Mr.  Farrel  married  Julia  Smith,  who  died  in  1874  leav- 
ing one  daughter,  now  Mrs.  Rutherford  Trowbridge  of  New  Haven, 
and  one  son,  Alton  Farrel.  In  1876  Mr.  Farrel  married  Lillian 
Clark,  who  is  the  mother  of  four  children,  Florence  (now  Mrs. 
George  Clark  Bryant),  Elise,  Franklin,  Jr.,  and  Lillian  Estelle.  The 
family  home  is  in  Ansonia,  the  seat  of  the  enormous  industry  which 
the  Farrels  have  controlled  for  so  many  years  and  a  city  which  owes 
its  material  prosperity,  its  beauty  and  its  public  benefits  in  an  in- 
estimable measure  to  Franklin  Farrel. 


16 


JAMES   LELAND   HOWARD 

HOWAKD,  JAMES  LELAND,  late  president  of  James  L. 
Howard  and  Company,  manufacturer,  banker,  vice-president 
of  the  Hartford  County  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company, 
and  a  leader  in  the  public  and  religious  life  of  his  city,  was  born  in 
Windsor,  Vermont,  January  19th,  1818,  and  died  in  Hartford,  on  May 
1st,  1906.  His  early  ancestors  were  Englishmen  who  emigrated  to 
Massachusetts  before  1650.  His  parents  were  Leland  and  Lucy  Mason 
Howard,  and  his  father  was  a  well-known  Baptist  clergyman,  greatly 
admired  for  his  strength  of  character,  his  goodness  and  justice  and 
for  his  ability  in  his  profession. 

After  acquiring  a  practical  business  education  James  L.  Howard 
began  his  work  in  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  mercantile  house  in  New  York 
City.  This  was  in  1833  when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  old.  Five  years 
later,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  he  came  to  Hartford,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged in  business  until  his  death.  In  1841  he  became  a  partner  in  the 
hardware,  carriage  and  sadlery  manufacturing  firm  of  Hurlbut  and 
Howard.  He  soon  bought  up  the  largest  interest  and  the  company 
was  reorganized  as  James  L.  Howard  and  Company.  The  concern 
engaged  then  as  it  does  now  in  the  manufacture  of  railroad  car  sup- 
plies and  was  the  first  firm  to  do  this.  In  1846  Mr.  Howard  built  the 
block  still  used  by  the  company  on  Asylum  Street.  In  1876  the 
company  received  a  charter  from  the  State,  retaining  the  same  name, 
with  Mr.  Howard  as  president,  which  office  he  retained  until  his  recent 
death. 

Outside  of  his  own  personal  manufacturing  business  Mr.  Howard 
had  many  strong  business  and  public  interests.  In  1854  he  was  made 
a  director  for  the  Phoenix  Bank  and  remained  one  for  the  rest  of 
his  life.  He  was  a  corporator  and  director  of  the  Travelers  Insurance 
Company,  an  organizer  of  the  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance 
Company,  vice-president  of  the  Hartford  County  Mutual  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company,  president  of  the  Hartford  City  Gas  Light  Company, 
from  1880  to  1900,  and  agent  of  the  Mutual  Benefit  Life  Insurance 

318 


JAMES  LELAND  HOWARD.  319 

Company  of  Newark,  New  Jersey,  for  many  years.  He  was  prominent 
in  public  life,  having  been  councilman,  alderman,  park  commissioner 
and  a  member  of  the  high  school  committee  and  in  1887  he  was 
lieutenant-governor  of  Connecticut.  In  early  life  he  was  a  loyal  Whig 
and  in  later  life  an  equally  loyal  Republican.  He  took  a  marked  in- 
terest in  education  and  was  for  many  years  president  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  Connecticut  Literary  Institute  at  Suffield.  He  was  a 
trustee  of  two  southern  seminaries,  of  Newton  Theological  Seminary 
and  of  Brown  University,  which  conferred  upon  him  the  honorary 
degree  of  M.A.  in  1894. 

Mr.  Howard  was  a  deacon  and  a  most  zealous  worker  in  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Hartford.  He  was  the  first  president  of  the  Con- 
necticut Baptist  Social  Union  and  served  several  terms.  From  1871 
to  1876  he  was  president  of  the  Connecticut  Baptist  Convention,  from 
1881  to  1884  he  was  president  of  the  American  Baptist  Publishing 
Society  and  from  1890  to  1893  he  was  president  of  the  American 
Baptist  Home  Mission  Society.  He  was  also  president  of  the  Baptist 
Educational  Society  for  a  number  of  years  and  a  manager  of  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union. 

In  1842  Mr.  Howard  married  Anna  Gilbert,  daughter  of  the 
Hon.  Joseph  B.  Gilbert.  Five  children  were  born  of  this  marriage, 
three  of  whom  survive  their  father. 

No  list  of  business  positions,  public  honors  and  religious  activ- 
ities serves  as  an  adequate  measure  of  James  L.  Howard's  achievement 
or  character.  What  he  accomplished  and  what  he  was  in  countless 
little  and  big  ways  in  his  long,  eventful  and  purposeful  life  cannot 
be  catalogued  or  estimated.  But  it  can  be  said  in  summary  that  he 
was  one  of  Connecticut's  most  worthy,  honorable,  capable,  progressive, 
sagacious  and  successful  business  men,  one  of  her  most  public  spirited 
and  faithful  citizens  and  one  of  her  most  sincere  and  generous  Chris- 
tians. He  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  Baptist  laymen  of  his  gen- 
eration and  was  a  great  power  for  good  in  intellectual,  moral  and 
spiritual  life  as  well  as  in  business  and  public  life  of  his  city  and 
state. 


JOHN   HENRY   LIGHT 

LIGHT,  HON.  JOHN  HENRY,  attorney-at-law,  corporation 
counsel  for  South  Norwalk,  former  treasurer  of  Fairfield 
County,  and  Judge  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
Ex-Speaker  of  the  House,  public  orator,  scholar,  and  literary  critic, 
was  born  in  Carmel,  Putnam  County,  New  York,  March  27th,  1855. 
His  parental  ancestors  came  from  England  about  1650  and  settled  in 
New  England.  His  father  was  Belden  Light,  a  farmer,  whose  character 
was  remarkable  for  its  firmness,  energy,  and  loyalty.  His  mother. 
Ann  Keenan  Light,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  and  a  woman  of 
great  strength  of  character.  John  Henry  Light  was  a  strong,  healthy 
boy,  whose  most  conspicuous  trait  was  his  fondness  for  books  and  read- 
ing. He  read  the  New  Testament  through  at  the  age  of  ten,  and  the 
Book  of  Proverbs  and  other  parts  of  the  Bible  a  little  later,  and  this 
reading,  in  connection  with  the  works  of  Emerson  and  Shakespeare, 
which  he  studied  at  fourteen,  had  the  greatest  influence  in  inspiring 
his  life  work.  He  had  plenty  of  chance  for  physical  as  well  as 
mental  activity,  for  he  worked  on  his  father's  farm  eight  months  in 
the  year,  and  was  permitted  to  attend  the  district  school  during  the 
winter  months,  provided  he  performed  certain  farm  chores  before  and 
after  school  hours.  After  getting  what  education  the  district  schools 
afforded,  he  entered  Chamberlain  Institute,  at  Randolph,  New  York, 
where  he  graduated  in  1880  with  high  honors.  He  then  studied  law 
with  Levi  Warner  of  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
Fairfield  County  Bar  in  September,  1883. 

Immediately  after  his  admission  to  the  Bar,  Mr.  Light  began  his 
career  as  a  practicing  attorney  in  South  Norwalk.  The  following 
year  he  became  corporation  counsel  for  that  city,  has  remained  in  that 
capacity  for  twenty-one  years,  and  still  holds  the  position.  In  1896 
he  became  Prosecuting  Attorney  of  the  Criminal  Court  of  Common 
Pleas,  and  in  1900  became  Judge  of  that  Court.  He  is  justly  consid- 
ered one  of  the  strongest  jury  lawyers  in  the  State,  and  is  generally 
honored  for  the  humanity  and  justice  of  his  treatment  of  criminals. 

320 


JOHN  HENRY  LIGHT.  323 

He  ie  the  possessor  of  one  of  the  finest  private  libraries  in  the  State, 
as  well  as  of  an  exceptionally  complete  law  library. 

As  a  public  man  Judge  Light  has  had  a  career  of  parallel 
distinction.  A  strong  Republican,  he  has  been  a  party  leader,  both 
because  of  his  rare  abilities  as  a  public  orator  and  because  of  his 
intense  patriotism  and  party  loyalty.  In  1899  and  1901  he  represented 
Norwalk  in  the  General  Assembly,  and  in  1901  he  was  Speaker  of  the 
House  and  held  the  position  with  signal  success,  due  to  his  tact  and 
forceful  oratory.  His  speech  nominating  Governor  Lounsbury,  his 
speech  on  the  repeal  of  the  Charter  of  the  Law  and  Order  League,  and 
on  Woman's  Suffrage,  are  memorable  ones  in  the  history  of  oratory  in 
this  State.  His  self-controlled  yet  forcible  manner,  his  beautiful 
language,  and  his  personal  magnetism  make  him  a  superb  orator.  This 
mental  grasp  and  literary  sense  have  made  him  a  deep  student  of 
literature  and  a  keen  critic,  and  his  lectures  on  Shakesperian  subjects 
have  met  with  popular  appreciation.  Not  only  through  his  writings 
and  lectures,  but  also  through  the  holding  of  authoritative  positions, 
has  Judge  Light  been  active  as  an  educator.  As  supervisor  of  the 
schools  of  South  Norwalk  he  has  taken  a  deep  interest  in  learning 
and  education,  and  he  has  also  been  on  the  committee  of  the  South 
Norwalk  Union  School  District  and  director  of  the  Public  Library. 

Judge  Light  has  many  social  and  fraternal  interests,  being  a  mem- 
ber of  the  South  Norwalk  Club,  the  Knob  Outing  Club,  the  Norwalk 
Yacht  Club,  the  Norwalk  Historical  and  Memorial  Library  Associa- 
tion, the  Knights  Templar,  the  Order  of  the  Mystic  Shrine,  the  Old 
Well  Lodge  of  Masons,  and  Butler's  Lodge  of  Odd  Fellows.  In  the 
last  mentioned  he  has  been  Noble  Grand,  and  he  was  the  first  president 
of  the  Norwalk  Club.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  Church, 
inclining  to  Emersonian  theories  of  religion  and  to  a  broad  Univer- 
salism.  One  of  his  chief  recreations  in  youth  was  sparring,  and  he 
still  continues  to  take  regular  daily  exercise,  combining  several  systems 
of  physical  culture  in  so  doing.  On  the  third  of  August,  1881,  Judge 
Light  married  Ida  M.  Lockwood,  by  whom  he  has  had  two  sons,  Jay 
Irving  and  Freeman,  but  only  the  last  named  is  now  living. 

The  advice  of  a  man  who  has  achieved  professional,  political,  and 
social  prominence  through  his  own  merit  is  of  peculiar  value  to  others. 
Judge  Light  says,  "  I  would  advise  young  men  to  do  right,  regardless 
of  consequences,  and  in  the  long  run  they  will  find  that  success  is 
pretty  sure  to  follow." 


LORRIN  A.   COOKE 

COOKE,  LORRIN  ALANSON,  late  citizen  and  public  man  of 
Winsted,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  ex-governor,  State 
representative  and  senator,  and  man  of  prominence  in  the 
business,  civic,  and  church  matters  of  his  country  and  State,  was 
born  in  New  Marlboro,  Massachusetts,  April  6th,  1831,  and  died  in 
Winsted,  August  12th,  1902.  His  parents  were  Levi  and  Amelia  Todd 
Cooke,  and  his  father  was  a  farmer  who  at  one  time  was  a  member 
of  the  State  legislature.  Ex-Governor  Cooke's  earliest  ancestors  came 
over  in  the  "  Mayflower,"  and  among  them  was  Hezekiah  Cooke  who 
settled  in  New  Marlboro.  His  grandson,  Solomon  Cooke,  Jr.,  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  and  Lewis  Cooke,  son  of  Solomon,  was 
a  captain  in  the  Massachusetts  State  Militia. 

A  common  school  education  supplemented  by  a  course  at  the 
Norfolk  Academy  in  Norfolk,  Connecticut,  prepared  Lorrin  A.  Cooke 
for  his  work  in  life.  As  soon  as  he  left  school  he  engaged  in  teaching 
school  during  the  winter  months  and  in  farming  during  the  summer 
months.  He  preferred  farming  to  teaching  and  soon  decided  to 
devote  his  time  to  that  one  occupation.  He  was  a  most  successful 
farmer  and  upon  his  location  at  Colebrook,  Connecticut,  he  became 
president  of  the  agricultural  society  of  that  town.  He  became 
influential  in  public  affairs  at  an  early  age  and  was  a  most  devoted 
and  enthusiastic  supporter  of  the  Republican  party  in  politics.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-five,  that  is,  in  1856,  he  represented  Colebrook  in  the 
State  legislature  and  in  1864  he  was  made  first  selectman  of  his  town. 
In  1869  Mr.  Cooke  gave  up  farming  to  become  manager  of  the 
Eagle  Scythe  Company  at  Riverton  (part  of  Winsted,  Connecticut) 
and  he  held  this  position  for  twenty  years  until,  in  1889,  the  concern 
went  out  of  business.  During  his  residence  in  Riverton,  Mr.  Cooke 
was  postmaster  for  several  years  and  in  1881  he  was  elected  State 
senator.  During  his  second  term  of  office  in  the  Senate,  he  was 
president  pro  tern  of  that  body.  In  1884  he  was  elected  lieutenant- 

324 


LOREIN  ALANSON  COOKE  325 

governor  of  Connecticut  and  he  was  reelected  to  that  office.  In  1887 
he  was  made  a  receiver  of  the  Continental  Life  Insurance  Company, 
an  office  which  involved  much  responsibility  and  long,  difficult  work. 
In  1892  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  National  Eepublican  Convention  in 
Minneapolis. 

After  severing  his  connection  with  the  manufacturing  business, 
Mr.  Cooke  made  his  home  in  Winsted  proper  and  lived  there  until 
his  death  in  1902.  From  1897  to  1899  he  was  governor  of  Connecti- 
cut, and  the  integrity,  executive  ability,  and  efficient,  conscientious 
conduct  which  made  him  the  popular  candidate  for  that  office  won 
him  added  honor  and  bore  ample  fruits  during  his  capable  adminis- 
tration. 

Mr.  Cooke  was  a  loyal  and  active  member  of  the  Second  Con- 
gregational Church  in  Winsted  and  was  a  delegate  to  the  national 
council  of  that  denomination  at  Chicago  in  1886,  being  moderator 
of  the  council.  He  was  superintendent  of  the  Sunday  school  at 
Colebrook  during  most  of  the  period  of  his  residence  there.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Eevolution,  a  director  of  the 
State  Industrial  School  for  Girls  and  of  the  Connecticut  Humane 
Society  and  a  trustee  of  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary.  In  1858 
he  married  Matilda  Webster  of  Sandisfield,  Massachusetts,  who 
died  in  1868.  He  is  survived  by  a  wife,  Josephine  Ward  Cooke,  whom 
he  married  in  1870,  and  by  a  daughter,  Edna,  the  wife  of  Frank 
Dale  Tarlton  of  Watertown,  Massachusetts.  Two  sons  born  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cooke  died  in  infancy.  Mrs.  Cooke  keeps  the  family  home 
at  66  Munro  Place,  Winsted. 


WILLIAM  TABER   MACFARLANE 

MACFARLANE,  WILLIAM  TABER,  manufacturer  and  indus- 
trial organizer  and  manager,  treasurer  of  the  Bridgeport 
Crucible  Company  and  president  of  the  Lattin  Storage  and 
Trucking  Company  of  Bridgeport,  was  born  in  Central  Falls,  Rhode 
Island,  in  1853,  and  is  of  Scotch  descent.  He  traces  his  ancestry  to 
Andrew  Macfarlane  of  Glasgow,  Scotland.  Hs  parents  were  William 
and  Lydia  A.  Macfarlane,  the  father  a  carriage  manufacturer  and  a 
member  of  the  board  of  health  of  Taunton,  Massachusetts,  and  the 
mother  a  woman  of  such  strong  and  lovable  personality  that  her  in- 
fluence has  been  lasting  and  ennobling  in  its  effect  on  her  son's  charac- 
ter and  intellect. 

The  ordinary  work  of  a  farmer  was  William  Macfarlane's  lot  in 
early  life.  At  ten  and  eleven  years  of  age  he  also  worked  during  the 
summer  in  a  bobbin  shop,  reaming  holes  in  spools  used  for  sewing 
thread.  He  attended  the  common  and  high  schools  of  Taunton,  Mass- 
achusetts and  graduated  from  the  latter.  He  was  a  good  student 
and  a  great  reader  and  found  especial  enjoyment  in  the  study  of  ancient 
history  and  modern  travel. 

Upon  leaving  school  he  went  to  work  as  office  boy  for  the  Taunton 
Car  Company.  He  showed  remarkable  organizing  ability  and  was  quick 
to  learn  the  general  principles  of  manufacturing.  He  reorganized  and 
built  up  the  Taunton  Crucible  Company,  a  large  and  successful  under- 
taking accomplished  in  early  manhood. 

About  twenty  years  ago  he  went  to  Bridgeport  where  he  organized 
the  Bridgeport  Crucible  Company  which  he  has  managed  ever  since 
that  time.  Both  the  Taunton  and  the  Bridgeport  plants  have  ex- 
panded with  remarkable  rapidity  under  his  management  and  do  a 
prosperous  and  reliable  business  world-wide  in  scope.  They  have 
agencies  in  Glasgow,  Berlin,  Brussels,  Egypt,  China,  Java,  South 
Africa  and  Australia,  and  may  boast  having  the  first  manufactory  of 
its  kind  in  New  England  in  high  standing  as  well  as  in  time  of  exis- 
tence. Mr.  Macfarlane  is  agent  and  manager  of  the  Taunton  Crucible 

326 


WILLIAM  TABEK  MACFARLANE  327 

Company  and  treasurer  of  the  Bridgeport  Crucible  Company,  besides 
being  president  of  the  Lattin  Storage  and  Trucking  Company  of 
Bridgeport. 

Mr.  Macfarlane  is  a  member  of  the  Congregational  church,  the 
Republican  party  in  politics  and  of  the  following  clubs :  The  Seaside 
Club  of  Bridgeport,  the  Pomham  Club  of  Providence,  Rhode  Island, 
and  the  Automobile  Club  of  Providence.  Automobiling  and  hunting 
are  his  favorite  recreations.  He  has  been  twice  married  —  in  1878 
to  Amy  M.  Hillis  of  Jersey  City,  New  Jersey,  who  died  in  1890  leav- 
ing three  children,  Amy  R.,  William  A.,  and  Mildred  L.,  and  in  1902 
to  his  present  wife  Alice  M.  Hatchman  of  East  Norwalk,  Connecticut, 
by  whom  he  has  had  one  child,  Marion  A.  Their  home  is  at  304  East 
Washington  Avenue,  Bridgeport,  Connecticut. 

The  qualities  which  Mr.  Macfarlane's  experience  recommends  as 
the  essentials  of  success  are  in  his  own  words  —  "Absolute  and  un- 
swerving loyalty  to  ideals  and  friends,  perseverance  to  overcome  all 
obstacles,  thorough  preparation  for  all  tasks,  mastery  of  detail,  self- 
reliance  and  good  health.  These,  together  with  God's  blessings  will 
accomplish  so  much  that  life  cannot  fail  to  be  a  success."  His  own 
life  and  his  successful  rise  from  lowest  to  highest  positions  through 
the  cultivation  of  these  admirable  and  effective  qualities  are  actual 
proof  of  the  wisdom  of  his  worthy  advice. 


WALTER  WETMORE  HOLMES 

HOLMES,  WALTEE  WETMORE,  of  Waterbury,  of  the  bank- 
ing firm  of  Holmes  &  Bull,  is  connected  on  both  his  father's 
side  and  his  mother's  side  with  families  whose  members  have 
done  as  much  as  any  men  to  give  Waterbury  the  prominence  it  long 
has  enjoyed  in  the  industrial  world.  Israel  Holmes  (first),  a  de- 
scendant of  that  John  Holmes  who  came  from  Beverly,  Yorkshire 
County,  England,  to  Greenwich,  in  1660,  and  of  Capt.  Samuel  Judd, 
one  of  Waterbury's  foremost  men  in  Revolutionary  days,  brought 
from  England  the  first  brass  artificers  and  the  machinery  for  them  — 
at  great  risk  to  himself,  be  it  said, —  and  was  the  first  president  of 
five  of  the  great  brass  manufacturing  concerns  in  Waterbury  today. 
Israel  Holmes  (second),  nephew  of  Israel  Holmes  (first),  twenty-five 
years  after  his  uncle's  successful  trips  to  England,  appeared  in  that 
country  as  representative  of  the  Scovill  Manufacturing  Company  to 
establish  a  great  department  for  the  sale  of  the  brass  goods  made  by 
the  Waterbury  concern,  and  later  was  representative  of  Wheeler  & 
Wilson  in  England.  After  his  return  to  Waterbury  he  assisted  in 
establishing  one  of  Waterbury's  leading  banking  establishments, 
known  as  Holmes  &  Parsons. 

Israel  Coe,  whose  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Deacon  Lyman  W.  Wet- 
more  of  the  Waterbury  Brass  Company,  was  an  associate  of  Israel 
Holmes  (first),  in  building  a  brass  rolling  mill  at  Wolcottville  (Tor- 
rington),  and  later  projected  in  Detroit,  Michigan,  the  copper  smelt- 
ing works  for  the  (then)  four  Waterbury  brass  concerns.  He  also 
was  a  member  of  the  state  Legislature  and  of  the  Senate.  He  died 
in  Waterbury  in  1891,  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven. 

Walter  Wetmore  Holmes  is  the  son  of  Israel  Holmes  (second) 
and  Cornelia,  daughter  of  Israel  Coe.  He  was  born  during  his 
father's  residence  at  Waterloo,  England,  on  October  13th,  1866. 
The  family  returned  to  Waterbury  in  1871.  After  a  thorough 
schooling  in  the  Waterbury  English  and  Classical  School  and  the 
Waterbury  High  School,  the  young  man,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  set 

328 


WA.LTER  WETMORE  HOLMES. 


331 


out  to  learn  the  machinist's  trade  and  served  his  full  apprenticeship. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  superintendent  of  the  Housatonic 
Brass  Company.  But  the  banking  business,  in  which  his  father  had 
attained  such  success,  having  superior  attractions  for  him,  he  joined 
with  his  brother,  Charles  L.  Holmes,  in  establishing  the  firm  of  C.  L. 
Holmes  &  Co.  On  the  retirement  of  Charles  L.  Holmes  he  formed 
the  partnership  known  as  Holmes  &  Bull,  taking  in  C.  Sanford  Bull, 
of  which  he  is  now  the  senior  partner.  The  house  does  a  large  busi- 
ness in  banking  and  in  investments.  He  also  is  an  incorporator  of 
the  Waterbury  Trust  Company,  chartered  in  1907. 

Mr.  Holmes  is  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution, 
of  the  Waterbury  Club,  and  of  the  Waterbury  Golf  Association. 
Like  his  father,  he  is  an  attendant  at  the  Second  Congregational 
Church.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican. 

His  wife  was  Miss  Margaret  Torrance  of  Derby,  Connecticut, 
daughter  of  the  late  Chief  Justice  David  Torrance,  whom  he  married 
on  May  5th,  1892.  Their  home  is  at  14  Mitchell  Avenue,  in  the 
house  occupied  by  his  grandfather,  Samuel  J.  Holmes,  which  for- 
merly stood  on  West  Main  Street,  on  the  site  of  the  old  Judd  Tavern. 


HENRY  LATHAM   BAILEY 

BAILEY,  HENRY  LATHAM,  merchant,  insurance  agent,  and  a 
leader  of  town  affairs  in  Groton,  New  London  County,  Con- 
necticut, was  born  there  July  23d,  1861.  His  ancestry  is  very 
interesting  and  distinguished,  for  it  is  traceable  to  Lady  Susan,  daugh- 
ter of  the  third  Earl  of  Lincoln,  who  became  the  wife  of  John  Hum- 
phrey of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  in  1620.  Mr.  Bailey's  great- 
grandfather, Jonathan  Bailey,  ran  away  from  home  in  early  youth  and 
joined  the  Revolutionary  Army.  Mr.  Bailey's  father,  Elijah  W. 
Bailey,  was  a  farmer  by  occupation  and  a  man  greatly  devoted  to  his 
family,  reputed  for  his  honesty,  and  frequently  consulted  as  a  close 
student  of  public  affairs.  He  was  assessor  of  taxes  and  a  member  of 
the  school  board  in  the  township  of  Morgan,  Ohio,  where  the  family 
lived  during  the  greater  part  of  Henry  L.  Bailey's  youth.  His  mother 
was  Melinda  Latham  Bailey,  and  her  influence  on  her  son's  character 
tended  strongly  toward  his  moral  and  spiritual  development. 

In  childhood  Henry  L.  Bailey's  chief  interest  was  in  play  and  the 
enjoyment  of  all  childish  sports.  In  youth  his  great  ambition  was 
"to  become  a  man."  His  father's  ill  health  made  it  necessary  for 
him  to  work  diligently  during  the  vacations,  and  at  sixteen  he  could  do 
a  man's  work.  The  habits  contracted  then  have  never  left  him  and  have 
never  ceased  to  be  a  blessing  and  a  help.  He  was  educated  at  the  district 
school  and  the  Rock  Creek  (Ohio)  Institute,  and  as  soon  as  he  com- 
pleted the  course  offered  there  he  went  to  work  as  shipping  clerk 
for  the  Wilson  Manufacturing  Company  in  New  London,  Connecticut. 
This  was  in  1882  and  the  employment  which  he  then  chose  for  him- 
self busied  him  until  1887,  when  he  became  engaged  in  the  grocery 
business  in  which  he  has  continued  ever  since.  In  1890  he  added  to 
his  mercantile  interests  those  of  an  insurance  agent  which  he  still 
maintains.  His  choice  of  a  mercantile  career  was  determined  by  ex- 
perience gained  in  selling  his  father's  farm  products,  which  taught 
him  the  advantageous  position  of  the  merchant. 

Outside  of  the  demands  of  business  Mr.  Bailey  has  devoted  most 

332 


HENRY  LATHAM  BAILEY  333 

of  his  time  and  attention  to  town  affairs  and  to  organizing  and  better- 
ing public  institutions  in  Groton.  He  has  also  taken  a  keen  interest 
in  political  matters  and  has  been  a  leader  of  the  Democratic  party. 
In  1890  he  was  assessor  of  taxes,  and  in  1897  and  1898  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  Fire  District  Committee,  and  later  its  treasurer.  He  was 
instrumental  in  organizing  the  Groton  Fire  Company,  and  was  its 
first  foreman.  In  1902  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, and  for  several  years  he  served  with  telling  efficiency  on  the 
town  school  board.  At  the  present  time  he  is  treasurer  of  the  Groton 
Monument  Association  and  of  the  Starr  Cemetery  Association.  He  is 
a  member  of  several  fraternal  orders,  including  the  I.  0.  0.  F.,  A.  F. 
and  A.  M.,  Eoyal  Arch  Chapter,  A.  0.  U.  W.,  and  the  Improved  Order 
of  Heptasophs.  His  religious  convictions  are  those  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church.  His  family  consists  of  a  wife,  Louisa  Starr  Holloway 
Bailey,  whom  he  married  in  1889,  and  three  children:  Cassie  Wil- 
liams, born  November  10th,  1893 ;  Lewis  Porter,  born  May  1st,  1899, 
and  Henry  Latham,  born  December  1st,  1901. 


ROBERT   PALMER 

PALMER,  ROBERT,  president  of  the  Robert  Palmer  and  Son 
Shipbuilding  and  Marine  Eailway  Company  of  Noank,  New 
London  County,  Connecticut,  and  one  of  the  most  successful 
shipbuilders  in  America,  former  member  of  the  State  Legislature  and 
a  leader  in  the  industrial,  religious,  political  and  intellectual  life  of 
Noank,  was  born  in  that  town  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  May,  1825.  His 
great-grandfather,  Elihu  Palmer,  was  a  farmer  of  Ledyard,  Connecti- 
cut, and  his  grandfather,  Elihu  Palmer,  second,  was  a  seafarer  by 
occupation.  Mr.  Palmer's  father,  Deacon  John  Palmer,  who  founded 
the  present  shipbuilding  industry  more  than  a  century  ago,  was  a  man 
of  wonderful  business  ability,  mental  endowment  and  piety.  He  was 
widely  admired  for  the  strength  of  his  political  convictions  and  for 
his  indomitable  faith  and  courage  as  a  Christian  as  well  as  for  his 
exceptionally  extended  knowledge  of  the  Bible.  Mr.  Robert  Palmer's 
mother  was  Abby  Fish. 

Both  heredity  and  environment  fostered  in  the  boy  Robert  Palmer 
an  intense  love  of  the  sea  and  at  thirteen  he  left  school  to  embark  on 
his  brother  John's  fishing  vessel.  At  nineteen  he  went  to  Stonington 
to  learn  the  shipbuilder's  trade,  but  he  was  soon  recalled  home  to  help 
his  father,  with  whom  he  and  his  brothers  soon  entered  into  partner- 
ship. The  business  grew  rapidly  and  many  improvements  were  made 
from  time  to  time,  keeping  the  company  at  the  head  of  shipbuilding 
enterprises  in  this  country.  In  1860  they  put  in  a  set  of  marine  rail- 
ways, thus  greatly  adding  to  the  extent  and  efficiency  of  their  work. 
The  Civil  War  was  a  great  boon  to  the  business  and  gave  its  growth 
a  lasting  stimulus.  In  1879  Robert  Palmer  bought  up  his  brothers' 
interest  and  in  1894  the  present  stock  company  was  formed  and  has 
continued  the  extensive  shipbuilding  and  general  mercantile  industry 
founded  so  long  ago  with  even  progress  and  success.  The  company 
builds  everything  from  small  fishing  vessels  to  palatial  Sound  steamers 
and  has  turned  out  more  than  five  hundred  and  fifty  vessels.  They 
also  do  extensive  repair  and  coasting  construction  work.  Robert  Pal- 

334 


EGBERT   PALMEB.  335 

mer  has  been  at  the  head  of  the  company  for  over  fifty  years  and  dur- 
ing that  time  he  has  given  to  the  business  an  example  of  and  a  repu- 
tation for  honor,  integrity,  thrift  and  progressiveness.  He  has  taken 
but  one  vacation  since  he  entered  the  business  and  it  is  characteristic 
of  the  man  that  that  vacation  was  spent  in  the  religious  atmosphere 
of  a  Baptist  camp  meeting. 

Eobert  Palmer  has  served  two  terms  in  the  State  Legislature, 
having  been  state  representative  in  1858  and  again  in  1869.  He  is 
president  of  the  Mystic  and  Noank  Library  Association,  a  trustee  of 
the  Mystic  Oral  School  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  a  deacon  of  fifty  years' 
standing  in  the  Baptist  Church  of  Noank,  and  he  has  been  Sunday 
School  superintendent  in  that  Church  for  sixty  years.  He  is  a  man 
of  generous  charities  and  many  kindly  Christian  acts.  His  wife  is 
Harriet  Eogers  Palmer,  whom  he  married  in  1845.  Six  children  have 
been  born  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer,  of  whom  but  three,  a  son  and  two 
daughters,  are  now  living.  The  son,  Eobert  Palmer,  Junior,  is  a 
partner  in  the  firm  and  secretary  and  treasurer  as  well. 

Noank  is  indebted  to  Eobert  Palmer,  not  only  for  a  flourishing 
industry  which  gives  the  place  its  life  and  untold  material  benefit,  but 
for  a  character  and  example  of  good  citizenship,  public  spirit  and 
Christian  brotherhood  that  make  him  one  of  the  most  worthy  as  well 
as  one  of  the  most  successful  men  of  his  time  and  community. 


LUCIEN   FRANCIS   BURPEE 

BURPEE,  COL.  LUCIEN  FRANCIS,  lawyer  and  military  man, 
was  born  in  Rockville,  Tolland  County,  Connecticut,  October 
12th,  1855,  and  is  now  a  resident  of  Waterbury,  Connecticut. 
His  ancestry  is  English,  the  first  of  the  family  to  emigrate  to  America 
being  Thomas   and  John  Burpee.     Col.   Burpee's   father,   Thomas 
Francis  Burpee,  a  manufacturer,  was  colonel  of  the  21st  Regiment, 
Connecticut  Volunteers,  in  the  Civil  War,  and  was  killed  at  Cold 
Harbor,  Virginia,  in  1864.     The  present  Col.  Burpee's  mother  was 
Adeline  M.  Harwood. 

Rockville  was  a  small  country  village  in  Col.  Burpee's  boyhood, 
and  as  he  was  strong  and  healthy  he  spent  most  of  his  time  out  of 
doors.  Even  as  a  child  he  showed  a  great  love  for  military  affairs 
and  a  keen  comprehension  of  their  details.  He  was  fond  of  studying 
history,  particularly  American  history.  His  education,  acquired  under 
difficulties,  was  none  the  less  thorough.  After  preparing  for  college 
at  the  Rockville  High  School  he  entered  Yale  College,  where  he  was 
graduated  in  1879  with  honors.  He  was  a  member  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa 
and  of  Skull  and  Bones,  an  editor  of  the  Yale  Record  and  of  the  Yale 
Literary  Magazine.  After  completing  his  academic  course  he  attended 
Yale  Law  School  a  year  and  then  received  his  LL.B.  degree  at  Ham- 
ilton College  in  1880.  Returning  to  Yale  he  took  a  post  graduate 
course  in  American  History,  the  favorite  study  of  his  boyhood. 

In  1881  Col.  Burpee  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Waterbury.  In 
September  of  that  year  he  married  Lida  Wood,  who  died  in  1889, 
leaving  three  children,  Lida  (Mrs.  John  S.  Ellsworth),  Helen,  and 
Francis.  In  1904  he  married  Ina  A.  Fitch.  His  success  as  a  lawyer 
was  quick  to  begin,  and  in  1883  he  became  prosecuting  attorney  for 
Waterbury,  remaining  in  this  capacity  until  1890.  From  1890  to  1896 
he  was  corporation  counsel  for  the  city  of  Waterbury,  and  in  1897  he 
became  Judge  of  the  Waterbury  City  Court,  which  position  he  still 
holds.  In  1905  the  office  of  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Waterbury 
was  tendered  to  him,  but  he  declined  it. 

336 


LUCIEN    FRANCIS    BURPEE.  339 

In  his  military  career  Col.  Burpee  has  won  distinction  propor- 
tionate to  that  in  his  legal  profession.  He  joined  the  Second  Kegi- 
raent,  Connecticut  National  Guard,  in  1886,  and  was  its  Colonel  from 
1895  to  1899.  During  the  Spanish  War  he  served  through  the  cam- 
paigns in  Porto  Kico  on  the  staffs  of  Gen.  Miles  and  Gen.  James  H. 
Wilson,  and  received  honorable  mention  for  distinguished  service. 
Twice  he  has  heen  appointed  by  the  Governor  of  the  State  to  revise 
its  militia  laws  and  regulations. 

Col.  Burpee  has  always  been  prominent  in  politics  and  identified 
with  the  Kepublican  party,  with  the  exception  of  the  campaign  of  1884 
when  he  voted  for  Grover  Cleveland.  His  religious  ties  are  with  the 
Congregational  Church.  He  is  a  member  of  the  order  of  Free  Masons 
and  of  the  Odd  Fellows,  of  the  Sons  of  Veterans,  the  Society  of 
Foreign  Wars,  the  Military  Order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United 
States,  the  Spanish  War  Veterans,  and  the  Military  and  Naval  Order 
of  the  Spanish  War.  He  is  also  vice-president  of  the  Waterbury  Club, 
and  a  member  of  the  Graduates'  and  Union  League  Clubs  of  New 
Haven,  and  of  the  United  States  Military  Service  Institution  of  New 
York. 


17 


LYMAN   ALLYN   UPSON 

TyPSON,  LYMAN  ALLYN,  president  of  the  Thompsonville 
I  I  Trust  Company,  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Enfield  Elec- 
tric Light  and  Power  Company,  president,  treasurer  and 
manager  of  the  Upson,  Martin  Company,  Incorporated,  carpet  manu- 
facturers, Civil  War  veteran,  former  state  representative  and  in  many 
other  ways  a  leading  citizen  of  Thompsonville,  Hartford  County, 
Connecticut,  was  born  in  Westfield,  Massachusetts,  July  23d,  1841. 
His  early  ancestors  in  this  country  were  of  the  most  substantial  Puri- 
tan stock,  the  family  being  founded  in  America  by  Thomas  Upson  who 
came  from  England  to  Hartford  with  Hooker's  flock  in  1634.  Mr. 
Upson's  paternal  grandfather  was  Simeon  Upson,  a  soldier  in  the  Rev- 
olution, and  his  maternal  grandfather  was  Freeman  Allyn,  a  son  of 
Nathan  Allyn  who  served  in  the  Colonial  Navy  during  the  Revolution 
and  whose  three  brothers  were  officers  in  the  same  War.  Mr.  Upson's 
father  was  a  carpenter  and  builder,  Willis  Upson  by  name,  and  his 
mother  was  Harriet  Allyn  Upson. 

After  the  preliminary  common  school  education  Lyman  Upson 
entered  the  State  Normal  School  of  Massachusetts,  where  he  graduated 
in  1860  and  took  a  postgraduate  course  by  way  of  college  prepara- 
tion. He  was  deterred  from  entering  college  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War,  for  a  long  line  of  patriotic  ancestors  had  engendered  in  him 
a  soldierly  and  ambitious  patriotism  that  allowed  no  hesitation  at  such 
a  time.  He  enlisted  in  the  62d  Regiment,  New  York  State  Vol- 
unteer Infantry,  in  the  "  Anderson  Zouaves  "  and  served  three  years  in 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  participated  in  McClellan's  Cam- 
paign, at  Fredericksburg,  at  Gettysburg  and  in  Grant's  March  from  the 
Rapidan  to  Petersburg  and  in  the  Battle  of  the  Wilderness  he  was  made 
a  non-commissioned  officer  with  the  rank  of  Corporal.  He  received 
his  honorable  discharge  from  the  Army  in  June,  1864,  and  the  fol- 
lowing August  he  came  to  Thompsonville  to  begin  his  business  career. 

It  was  the  appointment  as  paymaster  and  assistant  superintendent 
of  the  Hartford  Carpet  Company  that  brought  Mr.  Upson  to  Thomp- 

340 


LYMAN  ALLYN  UP80N.  341 

sonville  and  decided  the  line  of  business  which  he  was  to  follow.  In 
1878  he  became  superintendent  of  the  company  with  which  most  of  his 
business  life  has  been  spent.  During  this  management  of  the  business 
it  increased  fourfold  in  extent  and  efficiency  and  this  progress  was 
greatly  due  to  Mr.  Upson's  sound  knowledge  of  the  industry  and  to  his 
many  important  inventions  of  machines  for  facilitating  carpet  manu- 
facture such  as  the  lacing  machine  and  the  repeating  machine.  He  re- 
mained with  the  company  as  its  head  until  quite  recently  it  was  sold 
out  to  a  combination  and  he  became  president  of  the  Upson,  Martin 
Company  of  Thompsonville,  his  present  position  in  the  manufacturing 
business. 

Mr.  Upson  is  vitally  connected  with  one  of  the  leading  financial 
institutions  of  his  town  in  his  capacity  of  president  of  the  Thompson- 
ville  Trust  Company,  and  he  is  actively  interested  in  all  public  insti- 
tutions and  movements.  He  is  active  in  local  politics  as  a  loyal  and 
life-long  Eepublican  and  was  state  representative  in  1875.  He  has 
also  been  treasurer  of  the  school  board,  head  of  the  sewer  commission 
and  of  the  Village  Improvement  Society  of  Thompsonville.  He  is 
very  active  in  the  work  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  town 
and  is  a  member  of  its  Ecclesiastical  Society.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
American  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  of  New  York,  of  the  En- 
gineers' Club  of  New  York,  of  the  Connecticut  Society  of  the  Sons  of 
the  American  Revolution,  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society  and 
of  the  Hartford  Club,  and  is  past  commander  of  the  Samuel  Brown 
Post,  No.  56,  G.  A.  E. 

On  October  17th,  1871,  Mr.  Upson  married  Emma  C.  Douglass 
of  Suffield,  Connecticut.  The  following  children  have  been  born  to 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Upson:  Lawrence  Douglass,  Irene  Beckwith,  (Mrs. 
James  B.  Jordan),  Caroline  Abb6  (Mrs.  Lillian  Allyn),  and  Douglass 
Gilmore. 


WASHINGTON  FREDERICK  WILLCOX 

WILLCOX,  HON.  WASHINGTON  FREDERICK,  lawyer 
and  ex-congressman,  was  born  in  Killingworth,  Middlesex 
County,  Connecticut,  August  22d,  1834.  The  Wilcox  fam- 
ily is  of  Saxon  origin,  being  seated  in  Suffolk  County,  England,  before 
the  Norman  Conquest.  William  Wilcoxen,  the  first  American  ances- 
tor, came  to  Massachusetts  in  1636  and  moved  to  Stratford,  Connecti- 
cut, 1639.  His  son,  Joseph  Wilcox,  was  one  of  the  twelve  original 
planters  of  Killingworth  in  1663  and  his  descendants  were  inseparably 
linked  with  the  subsequent  history  of  that  town.  Herbert  Willcox, 
Mr.  Willcox's  father,  was  born  in  Killingworth  and  lived  there  the 
quiet,  steady  life  of  the  typical  New  England  farmer.  He  was  a  man 
of  sterling  integrity,  dutiful  intelligent  citizenship  and  great  activity 
in  church  affairs.  He  taught  his  children  by  word  and  example  the 
correct  way  in  living.  Mr.  Willcox's  mother  was  Lydia  Wright,  the 
daughter  of  a  talented  "  natural  lawyer  "  of  Clinton,  Connecticut,  and 
a  woman  whose  influence  on  her  son  was  strong,  both  intellectually 
and  morally. 

As  a  boy  Mr.  Willcox  lived  in  the  country.  He  was  blessed  with 
great  strength  and  the  best  of  health  and  this  physical  vigor  was  bal- 
anced by  a  fondness  for  study  and  reading.  He  was  particularly 
fond  of  reading  ancient  literature.  His  literary  taste  has  lasted  and 
developed  during  his  life.  Outside  of  his  professional  reading  Mr. 
Willcox  has  read  biography  and  the  best  ancient  and  modern  authors 
extensively.  With  this  love  of  study  and  the  numerous  tasks  that 
fall  to  the  lot  of  a  boy  reared  on  a  farm,  Mr.  Willcox's  early  days  were 
busy  ones.  His  education  was  acquired  with  difficulty  as  he  obtained 
it  by  his  own  efforts.  He  attended  the  district  school  six  months  of 
the  year  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twelve.  After  that  his  school 
days  were  limited  to  the  winter  months.  At  sixteen  he  attended  a 
High  School  three  months  of  the  year,  walking  six  miles  a  day  to  do 
so  and  busied  himself  outside  of  school  hours  doing  chores  on  the  farm. 
After  that  he  attended  Hopkin's  Grammar  School  in  New  Haven, 

342 


WASHINGTON  FREDERICK  WILLCOX.  343 

entered  Yale  Academic  Department  in  1858  and  was  obliged  to  leave 
by  reason  of  weak  eyes  which  prevented  study  for  nearly  a  year,  and 
in  1861  he  was  graduated  from  the  Yale  Law  School.  His  determina- 
tion to  be  a  lawyer  was  self-formed  and  dates  from  his  fourteenth  year. 

After  being  admitted  to  the  bar  Mr.  Willcox  began  his  legal 
practice  in  Deep  River,  Connecticut,  where  he  still  has  his  office.  He 
has  been  in  the  active  practice  of  law  ever  since,  except  for  interrup- 
tions due  to  the  performance  of  public  duties.  On  January  1st,  1868, 
Mr.  Willcox  married  Salome  C.  Dennison.  Two  daughters  and  two 
sons  have  been  born  to  them,  all  of  whom  are  now  living.  The  Will- 
cox house  is  in  Chester,  Connecticut. 

Mr.  Willcox's  first  political  office  was  membership  in  the  Con- 
necticut House  of  Eepresentatives,  1861-2.  In  1875  and  1876  he 
served  two  terms  as  State  Senator.  In  1875  he  was  appointed  State's 
Attorney  and  held  this  position  until  1883.  From  1889  to  1893  he 
was  a  Representative  in  Congress,  serving  efficiently  on  several  im- 
portant committees.  In  July,  1897,  he  was  appointed  Railroad  Com- 
missioner, and  his  associates  elected  him  to  the  chair  of  that  board. 
He  held  this  position  until  1905.  Mr.  Willcox  has  been  director  and 
vice-president  of  the  Deep  River  National  and  Deep  River  Savings 
Bank  and  vice-president  of  the  American  Bar  Association. 

In  politics  Mr.  Willcox  is  a  Democrat  whenever  he  considers  the 
principles  of  that  party  to  be  right.  In  religion  he  is  a  Congregation- 
alist.  He  considers  golf  the  best  recreation  for  those  who  must  spend 
much  time  indoors,  and  is  himself  an  enthusiastic  and  constant 
player. 

An  able  and  successful  lawyer  and  a  popular  and  strong  minded 
politician,  Mr.  Willcox  attributes  his  success  and  vitality  to  the  steady 
and  industrious  habits,  the  lessons  of  economy  and  self-dependence 
learned  in  his  early  farm  life.  He  believes  success  in  life  to  be  largely 
dependent  upon  early  environment  and  parental  training,  and  that 
over-indulgence  in  the  home  is  the  greatest  foe  to  the  development 
of  the  possibilities  of  success  that  are  innate  in  nearly  all  boys.  He 
says :  "  Industry  is  the  basis  of  success  in  every  profession  or  busi- 
ness. There  is  no  strong  young  man  so  poor  but  that  he  can  obtain 
a  collegiate  education  if  he  will  bend  all  of  his  energies  in  that  direc- 
tion. There  will  always  be  opportunities  for  a  young  man  of  good 
habits  to  find  employment  in  almost  every  industry.  He  should  make 


344  WASHINGTON  FREDERICK  WILLCOX. 

up  his  mind  early  in  life,  following  his  inclination,  as  to  the  kind 
of  business  he  desires  to  engage  in :  then  he  should  make  use  of  every 
opportunity  to  prepare  and  qualify  himself  for  it.  He  should  obtain 
at  least  as  good  an  education  as  his  circumstances  will  permit.  He 
should  take  the  best  care  of  his  health,  for  this  is  essential  to  success. 
He  should  be  thoroughly  honest  and  frank ;  energetic,  giving  the  same 
attention  to  his  employer's  business  as  he  would  if  it  was  his  own,  and 
in  this  way  his  service  will  not  only  be  valuable  but  almost  indispen- 
sable to  his  employer.  Young  men  should  in  early  life  form  the  habit 
of  economy,  and  in  order  to  know  the  value  of  money,  should  have 
some  practical  experience  in  earning  by  their  own  labor,  at  least  their 
spending  money.  They  should  avoid  evil  companions,  the  pool  room 
and  saloon,  and  employ  a  share  of  their  spare  time  in  reading  history 
and  biographies  of  eminent  men,  and  other  useful  books.  Steady  work 
is  conducive  to  health,  while  idleness  tends  to  an  irregular  and  shift- 
less life.  Employers  prefer  young  men  who  have  been  trained  to 
labor,  this  habit  once  formed  is  seldom  lost." 


FRANK   WILLETTE  ETHERIDGE 

ETHERIDGE,  FRANK  WILLETTE,  lawyer,  town  clerk,  judge 
of  probate  and  justice  of  the  peace,  of  Thomaston,  Litchfield 
County,  Connecticut,  was  born  in  Montville,  New  London 
County,  Connecticut,  March  31st,  1858,  the  son  of  James  Lester  and 
Frances  Marrette  (Smith)  Etheridge.  His  father  was  a  carpenter 
and  builder  by  trade.  On  his  father's  side  the  genealogy  is  unknown 
beyond  his  great-grandfather,  whose  name  was  James  and  who  lived 
in  Ledyard,  New  London  County,  Connecticut.  The  grandfather's 
name  was  Amos,  a  resident  of  the  same  locality. 

On  his  mother's  side,  however,  a  study  of  the  ancestral  tree  dis- 
closes names  of  historical  importance.  His  mother  was  a  daughter 
of  Marvin  Smith,  who  was  born  November  18th,  1784,  and  died  March 
31st,  1887,  at  the  advanced  age  of  over  one  hundred  and  two  years.  He 
was  married  in  1812  to  Anna  Newton  and  served  in  the  war  of  that 
year.  Marvin's  father  was  John  Smith,  who  was  born  April  27th, 
1760,  and  died  February  2d,  1852.  He  was  married  about  1783  to 
Lydia  Ames  and  lived  at  Massapeag.  He  was  a  soldier  in  the  War  of 
the  Revolution.  Ebenezer  was  the  father  of  John  and  appears  to  have 
located  in  Montville,  about  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  He 
was  a  son  of  James  Smith  of  Groton. 

The  first  eleven  years  of  Mr.  Etheridge's  life  were  spent  in 
the  country,  and  the  district  schools  supplied  his  early  education. 
Later  he  lived  in  the  city  of  Norwich  for  nearly  two  years  and  for 
the  next  five  years  worked  on  his  father's  farm  in  the  summer 
and  continued  his  schooling  in  the  winter  months.  At  seven- 
teen he  went  to  Hartford  to  live  and  attended  the  Hartford  Public 
High  School.  Upon  leaving  the  High  School  he  studied  law  with 
the  late  Hon.  Elisha  Johnson  and  the  Hon.  Samuel  0.  Prentice  at 
Hartford  and  was  admitted  to  the  Hartford  County  Bar  in  1880. 

347 


348  FRANK   WILLETT   ETHEEIDGE 

Immediately  following  his  admission  to  the  Bar,  Mr.  Etheridge 
took  up  his  residence  in  Thomaston,  Connecticut,  where  he  has  car- 
ried on  the  practice  of  his  profession  ever  since  and  where  he  has  held 
important  town  offices. 

In  December,  1880,  the  law  firm  of  Bradstreet  and  Etheridge 
was  formed  and  existed  for  about  fifteen  years,  since  which  time  Mr. 
Etheridge  has  continued  an  independent  legal  practice  with  success 
and  distinction. 

In  1882  he  became  clerk  of  probate  court  and  held  that  office 
until  1891,  when  he  became  judge  of  the  court.  Since  1882  he  has 
been  justice  of  the  peace,  since  1892  he  has  been  town  clerk  and 
since  1896  he  has  been  "  County  Health  Officer "  for  Litchfield 
County.  For  six  years  he  served  on  the  town  school  committee  and 
was  its  secretary  for  five  years.  He  has  been  vice-president  and  a  di- 
rector of  the  Thomaston  Savings  Bank  for  a  number  of  years  and 
president  of  the  Thomaston  Public  Library  Board  since  its  organiza- 
tion. He  was  delegate  from  Thomaston  to  the  last  Connecticut  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  representing  the  Republican  party. 

His  fraternal  connections  are  with  Franklyn  Lodge,  I.  0.  0.  F., 
and  Columbia  Encampment,  both  of  Thomaston.  He  is  a  member 
and  trustee  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  that  town. 

In  1892,  Judge  Etheridge  purchased  the  Thomaston  Express,  a 
weekly  paper,  and  has  been  the  owner  and  publisher  of  that  periodical 
ever  since,  and  has  raised  its  standard  and  increased  the  interest  in 
its  columns  very  largely. 

On  the  twentieth  of  December,  1882,  Judge  Etheridge  married 
Ellen  Mathews  of  Thomaston.  The  six  children  born  of  this  union 
are  all  living  at  the  present  time:  Frederick  Wilbur,  Clara  May, 
Jessie  Ruth,  Florence  Minnette,  Howard  Matthews  and  Winifred 
Ellen. 

Judge  Etheridge  finds  pleasure  and  congenial  exercise  in  making 
improvements  around  his  home.  Aside  from  this  exercise,  he  oc- 
casionally resorts  to  tennis  as  a  most  helpful  recreation.  His  pro- 
fessional, public  and  business  interests  make  Judge  Etheridge  a  busy 
man,  but  despite  his  many  interests  he  has  succeeded  in  every  line 
of  work  to  which  he  has  given  his  efforts. 

His  watchword  to  those  who  would  win  success  is  "  Faithfulness  " 
and  he  gives  a  practical  exposition  of  what  faithfulness  in  business 


FRANK  WILLETT  ETHERIDGE  349 

life  is,  saying :  "  If  you  are  an  employee  do  all  you  agree  to  do 
whether  you  get  what  you  think  you  are  worth  or  not.  Having  done 
that  and  then  decided  to  quit  you'll  find  if  you  are  otherwise  capable 
and  intelligent,  that  your  employer  will  want  you  at  what  you  are 
worth." 


CHARLES   PAGE 

PAGE,  CHAKLES,  clergyman,  educator  and  former  state  repre- 
sentative and  senator,  at  present  town  clerk  and  treasurer  of 
North  Branford,  Connecticut,  and  pastor  of  the  Faxon  Congre- 
gational Church,  was  born  in  North  Branford,  New  Haven  County, 
Connecticut,  May  21st,  1839,  the  son  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  E.  Mer- 
riam  Page.  His  father  was  a  farmer  who  held  the  town  clerkship  of 
North  Branford  for  twenty-three  years  and  was  justice  of  peace  at  one 
time.  Benjamin  Page  was  a  loyal  and  active  Democrat  and  a  strong 
and  devout  Congregationalist.  The  family  is  an  old  and  prominent 
one,  the  early  members  having  taken  active  part  in  colonizing  America 
and  in  upholding  strong  religious  principles.  George  Page,  the 
founder  of  the  American  branch  of  the  family,  came  from  England 
about  1660  and  settled  in  Branford,  Connecticut.  His  son,  Daniel 
Page,  was  a  deacon  in  the  Congregational  Church  and  selectman  and 
grand  juror  of  his  town.  Daniel  Page,  Jr.,  Mr.  Charles  Page's  great- 
grandfather, was  selectman,  constable  and  a  member  of  the  General 
Court  for  nineteen  terms. 

The  ordinary  duties  and  pleasures  of  a  country  lad  occupied 
Charles  Page  in  early  boyhood  and  at  nine  he  left  home  to  reside  with 
a  relative.  He  was  employed  on  a  farm  at  a  very  early  age  and  at 
seventeen  became  a  school  teacher.  His  education  was  obtained  under 
many  difficulties  and  was  mostly  of  his  own  earning.  After  receiving 
his  primary  education  at  the  district  school  he  attended  the  Meriden 
High  School,  the  Guilford  Institute  and  the  State  Normal  School  at 
New  Britain.  He  then  taught  school  for  nine  years.  He  was  de- 
cidedly literary  in  his  mental  habits  and  read  widely  and  intelligently 
from  earliest  boyhood.  He  considers  the  most  influential  books  read 
in  his  youth  to  have  been  Abbot's  Histories  and  the  lives  of  great 
generals  and  statesmen. 

A  long  line  of  religious  and  scholarly  ancestors  left  Mr.  Page 
a  heritage  of  piety  and  an  ambition  to  enter  the  ministry.  In  1882 
he  entered  Yale  Divinity  School,  where  he  studied  for  three  years.  In 

350 


CHARLES  PAGE.  351 

1885  he  was  licensed  to  preach  in  the  Congregational  Church,  in  1894 
he  was  ordained  in  that  church  and  since  that  year  he  has  been  pastor 
of  the  Faxon  Congregational  Church. 

Mr.  Page  has  held  many  public  offices.  From  1870  to  1887  he 
was  justice  of  the  peace,  since  1871  he  has  been  town  clerk  and  town 
treasurer  of  North  Branford  and  he  was  acting  school  visitor  for  a 
number  of  years.  In  1874  he  was  elected  state  representative  and 
again  in  1901  and  in  the  latter  term  he  was  one  of  two  clergymen  to 
be  elected  to  that  office  and  was  the  competent  chairman  of  the  tem- 
perance committee.  In  1903  he  was  elected  state  senator  from  the 
sixth  district.  His  political  platform  has  always  been  that  of  the 
Eepublican  party. 

In  April,  1863,  Mr.  Page  married  Elbertine  A.  Dudley,  by  whom 
he  has  had  three  children,  Charles,  Edson  and  Mary  C.,  all  of  whom 
are  now  living.  The  Page  home  is  at  Totoket  —  Station  A  —  New 
Haven,  and  comprises  large  farm  lands  which  Mr.  Page  has  always 
taken  interest  in  cultivating.  His  interest  in  agriculture  has  led  him 
to  membership  in  the  Faxon  Grange,  but  aside  from  that  he  has  no 
social  ties. 


WILLIAM   ISRAEL  ALLYN 

ALLYN,  WILLIAM  ISEAEL,  farmer  and  public  man  of  Led- 
yard, New  London  County,  Connecticut,  of  which  county  he 
is  now  auditor,  is  the  son  of  Israel  and  Mary  Ann  (Williams) 
Allyn  and  was  born  in  Ledyard,  January  20th,  1875.     His  father  was 
a  farmer  who  was  judge  of  probate  and  state  representative  at  dif- 
ferent times.     The  son  William  was  reared  in  the  country  and  edu- 
cated at  the  district  schools  and  at  the  Norwich  Business  College, 
where  he  took  a  short  course  of  three  months. 

As  soon  as  he  left  school  William  Allyn  went  to  work  on  his 
father's  farm  and  he  has  made  farming  his  vocation  ever  since  that 
time  and  now  manages  large  and  prosperous  farm  lands.  His  chief 
work  outside  of  farming  has  been  in  performing  public  duties  and 
holding  various  civil  and  political  offices.  He  is  one  of  the  strongest 
and  most  influential  Eepublicans  in  his  county  and  he  has  been  the 
incumbent  of  town,  county  and  state  offices.  He  has  been  town  clerk 
and  treasurer  since  1899  and  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1902. 

In  November,  1904,  he  was  elected  state  representative  and  dur- 
ing his  term  of  office  in  the  Legislature  he  served  on  the  finance  com- 
mittee. He  was  also  secretary  of  the  New  London  County  Associa- 
tion. Since  1897  he  has  been  a  trustee  of  the  Bill  Library  Association 
of  Ledyard  and  since  1905  has  been  its  treasurer.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Congregational  Church  Committee  of  Ledyard  and  takes  a 
great  interest  in  religious  questions  and  institutions.  In  1905  he 
became  secretary  of  the  Town  Clerks'  Association  and  in  that  same 
year  he  was  elected  Auditor  of  New  London  County. 

On  his  twenty-third  birthday,  January  20th,  1898,  Mr.  Allyn  mar- 
ried Martha  A.  Gardner,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  children.  Only 
one,  Margaret  J.  Allyn,  is  now  living.  The  family  home  is  at  Led- 
yard. Mr.  Allyn  is  a  man  of  domestic  tastes  and  few  social  ties.  His 

352 


WILLIAM  ISRAEL  ALLYN.  353 

favorite  sport  is  hunting.  He  belongs  to  that  most  worthy  class  of 
successful  New  England  farmers  who  are  thrifty,  broad-minded,  and 
public  spirited  and  who  work  persistently  and  fruitfully  for  the 
moral,  intellectual  and  material  betterment  of  both  town  and  country. 


WILLIAM   FREDERICK   ELLIS 

ELLIS,  WILLIAM  FREDERICK,  civil  engineer,  inventor  and 
promoter  of  electric  railways,  was  born  in  Ashland,  Middlesex 
County,  Massachusetts,  August  5th,  1856.  His  father,  Wil- 
liam Fuller  Ellis,  son  of  Albert  and  Abigail  Ellis,  was  a  civil  engineer, 
chairman  of  the  school  committee,  first  selectman,  and  state  represent- 
ative, esteemed  for  his  honesty  and  force  of  character.  He  married 
Annie  Partridge,  daughter  of  Malachi  Babcock,  of  Sherburne.  The 
first  American  ancestor  on  his  paternal  side  came  from  England  to 
Dedham,  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  in  1635. 

William  Frederick  Ellis  was,  as  a  child,  in  poor  health  and  of 
weedy  growth.  His  boyhood  tastes  were  reading  and  driving.  He 
attended  the  public  and  high  schools  and  had  a  special  desire  to 
study  and  practice  engineering,  which  profession  he  took  up  when  six- 
teen years  of  age,  when  he  was  put  in  charge  of  a  party  "  locating  " 
railroads  in  New  England.  As  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources 
when  he  entered  the  high  school,  he  was  obliged  to  shorten  his  school 
days  and  lengthen  those  devoted  to  earning  money.  He  matriculated 
at  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  class  of  1876,  but  ill 
health  prevented  his  completing  the  course.  He  therefore  continued 
his  out-door  work  as  a  civil  engineer  on  the  Boston  &  Albany  Railroad 
and  in  general  practice.  Mr.  Ellis  is  at  the  head  of  several  large  com- 
panies and  is  a  director  of  many  others.  He  took  out  his  basic  tire 
patent  December  10th,  1901,  and  in  1905  had  taken  out  twenty- 
six  patents ;  also  his  basic  patent  for  metallic  tie  for  railroads,  August 
30th,  1904,  with  additional  patents  in  preparation.  Mr.  Ellis  is 
probably  more  widely  known  as  an  engineer  and  contractor  than  in 
any  other  way,  having  been  identified  with  the  building  of  some 
twenty  different  systems  of  water  works  in  the  United  States  as  well 
as  many  hundreds  of  miles  of  steam  and  electric  railroads. 

He  was  married  February  22d,  1876,  to  Maria  Louise,  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Harriet  Cutler,  of  Ashland,  and  they  have  three  chil- 
dren :  Harry  Cutler,  Arthur  Herbert,  and  Robert  William.  His  home 

354 


WILLIAM    FREDERICK   ELLIS. 


357 


is  in  Stamford,  Connecticut,  where  he  is  affiliated  with  the  Christian 
Science  Church.  His  political  party  is  the  Republican.  His  message 
to  young  men  he  penned  as  follows :  "  To  my  thought  the  Scriptural 
injunction,  '  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God,'  still  holds  good  —  for 
then  'All  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.' }: 


ARTHUR   MORTON   BROWN 

BROWN,  ARTHUR  MORTON,  lawyer,  and  treasurer  of  New 
London  County,  was  born  in  Jewett  City,  New  London  County, 
Connecticut,  September  24th,  1877.  His  earliest  known  ances- 
tors in  this  country  settled  in  Ledyard,  Connecticut,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  great-grandfather  on  his  father's 
side  was  Enoch  Baker,  who  fought  bravely  at  Bunker  Hill.  Mr. 
Brown's  father,  George  Washington  Brown,  a  merchant,  represented 
the  town  of  Griswold  in  the  Connecticut  General  Assembly  in  1872. 
In  his  firmness  of  character,  generous  disposition  and  determined  will 
his  son  has  found  much  that  is  worthy  of  imitation.  Mr.  Brown's 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Frances  Young,  also  exerted 
a  strong  and  uplifting  influence  upon  his  character.  He  was  a  strong, 
healthy  boy  of  mental  and  physical  vigor  who  loved  to  read  and  loved 
outdoor  sports  as  well.  Definite  duties  and  the  necessity  of  earning  his 
own  education  taught  him  self-reliance  and  the  value  of  knowledge. 
But  he  had  the  care  of  a  garden  in  summer  and  did  various  kinds  of 
work  to  secure  an  education  at  the  Jewett  City  Grammar  School  and 
the  Norwich  Free  Academy,  where  he  spent  three  years.  He  then 
took  a  two  year's  cruise  around  the  world  on  W.  A.  Slater's  Yacht 
"  Eleanor,"  serving  as  seaman  and  quartermaster.  He  left  the  sea 
to  study  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  January  10th,  1901,  nine 
months  prior  to  his  marriage  to  Gertrude  E.  Sanderson.  They  have 
one  child,  Francis  Young  Brown,  born  August  12th,  1902.  His  legal 
studies  and  first  work  at  his  chosen  profession  began  in  the  law  office 
of  Solomon  Lucas,  Esquire,  at  Norwich,  in  February,  1897.  Since 
that  time  he  has  lived  in  Jewett  City  and  continued  his  practice  in 
Norwich. 

Though  still  a  young  man  Mr.  Brown  has  made  his  mark  in  his 
profession  and  has  received  many  public  honors.  He  is  now  counsel 
for  the  borough  of  Jewett  City  and  the  town  of  Griswold,  and  prose- 
cuting attorney  of  the  town  court  of  Griswold,  also  County  Health 
Officer  for  New  London  County.  He  has  been  treasurer  of  New  Lon- 

358 


ARTHUR  MORTON  BROWN.  359 

don  County  since  July,  1901.  He  represented  Griswold  in  the  Con- 
necticut General  Assembly  in  1901,  and  in  the  Constitutional  Con- 
vention in  1902,  and  he  represented  the  eleventh  senatorial  district 
in  the  senate  in  1903.  His  allegiance  to  the  Eepublican  party  has 
never  changed  and  his  faithfulness  to  his  constituents  has  been  of 
great  value.  His  fraternal  ties  are  confined  to  membership  in  Mt. 
Vernon  Lodge,  No.  75,  F.  &  A.  M.  at  Jewett  City.  He  is  a  member 
of  the  Baptist  church.  He  is  an  enthusiastic  devotee  of  outdoor 
exercise. 

The  determination  to  make  his  life  count  was  inspired  by  reading 
the  lives  of  men  who  had  accomplished  something  in  the  world  and  the 
most  definite  and  lasting  inspiration  came  from  reading  the  life  of 
Patrick  Henry,  when  he  was  but  a  young  boy.  Of  his  own  life  Mr. 
Brown  says  —  "I  made  a  failure  once  that  taught  me  never  to  under- 
rate an  opponent  in  the  battles  of  life.  My  life  is  young  yet,  but  I 
have  found  that  a  fixed  purpose  coupled  with  a  determination  to  attain 
that  purpose,  which  is  so  strong  that  no  obstacle  daunts,  usually  brings 
success." 


18 


JOHN   NELSON   LEWIS 

LEWIS,  JOHN  NELSON,  treasurer  of  the  Briggs  Manufacturing 
Company  of  Voluntown,  New  London  County,  Connecticut, 
ex-state  senator  and  a  leader  in  the  educational,  religious  and 
Masonic  affairs  of  his  community,  was  born  in  Exeter,  Ehode  Island, 
April  23d,  1847,  the  son  of  James  and  Mary  (Sisson)  Lewis.  His 
father  was  a  deacon,  a  captain  of  militia  and  one  of  the  most  influential 
and  respected  farmers  in  the  neighborhood,  being  a  man  who  took 
active  and  conscientious  interest  in  religion  and  politics.  Colonel 
Nathan  B.  Lewis,  John  N.  Lewis'  grandfather,  was  an  officer  in  the 
War  of  1812.  Going  back  to  the  earliest  of  his  ancestors  in  this 
country  Mr.  Lewis  traces  his  descent  from  John  Lewis  whose  name 
appears  on  the  town  records  of  Westerly,  Ehode  Island,  in  1661. 

After  the  usual  public  school  training  in  the  schools  of  his  native 
town  John  Lewis  entered  Schofield's  Commercial  College  at  Provi- 
dence, where  he  graduated  in  1869.  He  then  returned  to  Exeter, 
where  he  taught  school  for  a  year,  but  became  at  the  end  of  the  school 
term  United  States  Census  Enumerator  for  Connecticut.  Upon  the 
completion  of  the  latter  duties  he  went  to  Illinois,  where  he  taught 
school  for  a  year,  at  the  end  of  which  he  returned  East  and  taught  in 
Exeter  and  South  Kingston  until  the  fall  of  1872,  when  he  went  to 
Voluntown,  Connecticut,  to  enter  the  employ  of  Ira  Briggs  &  Com- 
pany as  clerk.  When  the  present  company  was  formed  as  the  Briggs 
Manufacturing  Company  he  was  made  bookkeeper  and  paymaster. 
In  1898  he  became  a  director  and  stockholder  of  the  company  and  was 
advanced  to  the  position  of  assistant  treasurer.  Since  the  death  of 
Ira  Briggs  he  has  been  treasurer  of  the  company. 

Like  his  father  and  forefathers,  John  Lewis  is  intensely  interested 
in  public  affairs  and  has  frequently  held  public  office.  His  political 
inclinations  are  those  of  the  Eepublican  party.  In  1888  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Connecticut  Legislature  and  served  on  the  Committee 
of  Appropriations  and  in  1890  he  was  re-elected  to  the  office  of  rep- 
resentative. In  1897  he  was  state  senator  from  the  Eleventh  District 

360 


JOHN  NELSON  LEWIS.  361 

and  during  his  term  of  office  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Fisheries  and  Game  and  a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Contingent 
Expenses.  He  has  held  many  responsible  town  and  county  offices, 
having  been  town  treasurer  and  registrar,  a  most  active  and  efficient 
member  of  the  Voluntown  school  board,  justice  of  peace,  postmaster 
under  three  administrations  and  county  auditor  for  two  years. 

Fraternally  Mr.  Lewis  is  a  thirty-second  degree  mason,  a  member 
of  Mt.  Vernon  Lodge,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.  of  Jewett  City,  in  which  he  has 
held  all  the  chairs;  a  member  of  Franklin  Chapter  and  Franklin 
Council  of  Norwich;  of  the  Columbian  Commandery  of  Norwich;  of 
the  Sphinx  Temple,  Mystic  Shrine,  Hartford ;  of  Reliance  Lodge,  I.  0. 
0.  F.,  in  which  he  has  held  all  the  chairs;  he  was  Deputy  Grand 
Master  for  the  Eighth  Masonic  Jurisdiction  of  Connecticut  in  1904; 
and  he  is  past  grand  master  of  the  State  0.  U.  A.  M.  and  delegate  to 
the  State  Convention  of  that  order.  In  religious  views  Mr.  Lewis  is 
a  Baptist. 

Mr.  Lewis'  family  consists  of  a  wife,  Eliza  Lee  Lewis,  whom  he 
married  in  1873,  and  one  daughter.  Their  home  is  at  Voluntown, 
the  seat  of  his  business  and  official  interests. 


GEORGE   MORRIS   WOODRUFF 


WOODRUFF,  GEORGE  MORRIS,  lawyer  and  financier,  was 
born  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  March  3d,  1836.  He  is  the 
son  of  George  Catlin  and  Henrietta  S.  (Seymour)  Wood- 
run*.  The  family  ancestry  on  the  male  side  dates  back  to  1638,  when 
one  of  the  forefathers,  Matthew  Woodruff,  accompanied  the  Reverend 
Thomas  Hooker  from  the  county  of  Surrey,  in  England,  to  Hartford. 
The  later  generations  of  the  Woodruffs  have  been  devotees  of  the 
legal  profession  as  far  back  as  can  be  remembered.  Mr.  Woodruff's 
father  acquired  considerable  distinction  as  a  lawyer,  and  in  the  course 
of  his  life-history  was  postmaster  in  the  town  of  Litchfield,  a  colonel  of 
the  Connecticut  State  Militia,  a  judge  of  probate,  representative  in 
the  General  Assembly  of  his  State,  and  also  in  the  National  Congress, 
besides  holding  many  local  offices,  and  he  was  recognized  generally  by 
all  who  knew  him  as  a  man  of  integrity,  fearlessness,  and  kindly  dis- 
position in  his  attitude  towards  others.  The  ancestors  of  the  Con- 
necticut Woodruffs,  generally,  while  without  any  special  distinction  in 
advance  of  other  men,  were  gifted  with  the  good  fortune  of  always 
satisfactorily  discharging  the  various  duties  committed  to  them, 
both  public  and  private. 

George  Morris  Woodruff  passed  the  earlier  period  of  his  life  in 
the  country,  and  with  a  vigorous  body  and  mind,  he  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  acquiring  an  education.  He  had  the  advantage  of  a  pre- 
paratory course  of  scholarship  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  Massa- 
chusetts. Upon  the  completion  of  his  studies  there  in  1853,  he  en- 
tered Yale  College,  graduating  in  1857,  and  following  this  he  took  a 
two  years'  course  of  study  at  the  Harvard  Law  School,  graduating  in 
1859. 

Judge  Woodruff  married  Elizabeth  Ferris  Parsons,  June  13th, 
1860,  and  they  with  their  three  children,  George  Catlin,  Eliza  W., 
now  Mrs.  Alexander  McNeill,  and  James  P.  Woodruff,  now  reside  in 


GEORGE  MORRIS  WOODRUFF.  365 

the  town  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  where  he  engaged  in  practice  as 
a  lawyer,  about  a  year  previous  to  his  marriage,  or  immediately  after 
he  graduated  from  Harvard.  In  prosecuting  the  arduous  labors 
necessary  to  meriting,  as  well  as  reaping,  success  in  forensic  fields, 
Judge  Woodruff  does  not  hesitate  to  acknowledge  the  influence  real- 
ized by  home  culture  and  admonitions,  strengthened  by  private  study 
beyond  the  regular  curriculum  of  school  and  college,  and  an  inter- 
mingling with  men  already  engaged  in  the  struggle  for  honorable 
fame  in  their  respective  callings.  Among  the  fruits  of  his  toil,  in 
addition  to  his  high  standing  as  a  lawyer,  he  was  made  president  of 
the  Litchfield  Savings  Society,  in  1859,  and  in  1899  he  became  presi- 
dent of  the  First  National  Bank  of  Litchfield.  He  was  treasurer  of 
the  Litchfield  Mutual  Fire  Insurance  Company  from  1885  to  1902, 
when  he  was  elected  president. 

He  has  filled  with  ability  various  civil  and  political  offices,  still 
retaining  the  administration  of  some  of  these.  In  1863  he  had  the 
honor  of  appointment  as  Commissioner  to  the  Universal  Exposition 
at  Hamburg;  was  a  member  of  the  Connecticut  State  Board  of  Edu- 
cation during  the  years  1865-77,  railroad  commissioner  from  1874  to 
1897,  and  represented  his  town  in  the  Legislature  for  three  terms 
during  the  periods  between  1863  and  1872. 

Since  1860  he  has  been  town  treasurer  of  Litchfield,  and  was 
judge  of  the  probate  court  at  Litchfield  from  the  year  1868  till  retired 
by  the  Constitutional  limit  of  age.  He  was  also  town  clerk  for  several 
years. 

Content  to  round  out  the  period  of  his  life  in  civil  avocations, 
Judge  Woodruff  has  never  been  in  the  military  or  naval  service.  In 
politics  he  has  always  been  a  member  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  in 
his  religion  he  adheres  to  the  tenets  of  the  Congregational  Church. 
His  pleasures  and  main  recreations  have  been  in  his  work,  though 
portions  of  his  time  are  spent  in  attendance  upon  several  prominent 
societies  of  which  he  is  a  member.  These  include  The  American 
Bar  Association,  Phi  Upsilon  fraternity,  the  Litchfield  County 
University  Club,  the  Litchfield  Historical  Society,  the  Connecticut 
Civil  Service  Association,  the  American  Historical  Association,  the 
Archaeological  Institute  of  America,  and  a  few  others. 


366  GEORGE  MORRIS  WOODRUFF. 

Mention  of  Judge  Woodruff's  career  finds  place  in  "  The  Judi- 
cial and  Civil  History  of  Connecticut/'  in  a  volume  of  "  Sketches 
of  Representative  Men  in  Connecticut/'  "Universities  and  Their 
Sons/'  in  1900,  and  in  other  publications  relating  chiefly  to  men  of 
Connecticut  who  have  served  with  distinction  sufficient  in  its  value 
to  have  their  names  recorded  among  the  perpetual  annals  of  their 
State. 


EZRA  EDWARD   POST 

POST,  EZEA  EDWARD,  cashier  of  the  Clinton  National  Bank, 
was  Born  in  Clinton,  Middlesex  County,  Connecticut,  Decem- 
ber 10th,  1847.  He  traces  his  lineage  to  Stephen  Post,  who 
came  from  England  to  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  in  1634,  and  after- 
wards moved  to  Hartford  and  was  one  of  the  original  proprietors  of 
that  city.  Deacon  Abraham  Post,  grandson  of  Stephen  Post,  born  in 
Westbrook  in  1669,  was  one  of  the  patentees  of  the  town  of  Saybrook 
and  the  first  deacon  of  the  West  Saybrook  Church,  organized  in  1776. 
He  married  Elizabeth  Stevens,  daughter  of  one  of  the  founders  of 
Clinton. 

Mr.  Posf s  father  was  Frederick  W.  Post,  a  farmer,  who  held 
various  town  offices  in  Clinton,  being  assessor  and  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Belief  for  many  years.  His  marked  characteristics  were 
geniality  and  honesty.  Mr.  Posfs  mother  was  Mary  A.  (Griswold) 
Post,  daughter  of  Amos  and  Kachel  Bushnell  Griswold  of  Guilford. 

A  country  boy,  reared  on  a  farm,  Mr.  Post  learned  early  to  per- 
form tasks  especially  assigned  to  him  and  to  be  responsible  for  them. 
This  taught  him  the  value  of  industrious  habits,  of  application  and 
thrift.  He  read  much,  finding  the  greatest  help  in  the  Bible,  biogra- 
phies, and  Parson's  Laws  of  Business,  which  he  studied  "  from  cover 
to  cover/'  After  he  was  thirteen  his  schooling  was  confined  to  the 
winter  term.  He  attended  private  schools  and  an  academy. 

In  the  winter  of  1868-9,  Mr.  Post  taught  school.  For  a  year 
after  that  he  was  a  clerk  in  a  store  in  TJnionville  until  1872,  when  he 
became  clerk  in  the  Clinton  National  Bank.  From  1873  to  1877  he 
was  runner,  assistant  bookkeeper  and  bookkeeper  in  the  Connecticut 
Trust  and  Safe  Deposit  Company  of  Hartford.  In  June,  1877,  he 
went  back  to  the  Clinton  National  Bank  to  become  its  cashier,  and  he 
has  held  this  position  continuously  ever  since.  It  has  been  largely 
through  Mr.  Post's  energy  and  fidelity  that  the  bank  has  attained  its 
present  high  standard.  During  the  twenty-seven  years  that  he  has 
been  a  banker  Mr.  Post  has  settled  several  large  estates  and  has  been 

367 


368  EZRA  EDWARD  POST 

trustee  of  numerous  trust  funds.  Besides  his  business  interests  he 
has  been  active  in  school  and  church  matters.  He  has  been  commit- 
tee member  and  chairman  of  the  First  Ecclesiastical  Society  of  Clin- 
ton and  also  its  treasurer.  For  ten  years  he  was  superintendent  of 
the  Sunday  School  of  the  First  Church  of  Christ  (Congregational), 
as  well  as  treasurer,  clerk,  and  deacon  of  that  church.  From  1878  to 
1883  he  was  treasurer  of  Jeptha  Lodge,  No.  95,  F.  &  A.  M.  He  was 
treasurer  of  the  Clinton  Agricultural  Society  for  eleven  years,  and  he 
is  now  a  trustee  of  the  Morgan  School,  Clinton.  He  has  always  been 
a  Kepublican.  His  favorite  relaxation  is  found  in  the  care  of  his 
garden,  which  is  always  a  good  one  in  its  season. 

In  December,  1878,  Mr.  Post  married  Abbie  I.  Bissell  of  Broad- 
brook,  Conn.  They  have  one  son,  Charles  A.  Post,  a  student  at 
Brown  University. 

A  score  of  young  men  who  have  been  clerks  in  his  bank  have  been 
assisted  to  more  responsible  positions  by  Mr.  Post.  To  those  he  may 
help  more  indirectly  he  says,  "  Seek  to  be  guided  by  Christian  princi- 
ples, practice  honesty,  industry  and  courtesy;  do  your  level  best,  and 
'  To  thine  own  self  be  true/  " 


WATSON   LYMAN   PHILLIPS 

PHILLIPS,  EEV.  WATSON  LYMAN,  D.D.,  clergyman,  lec- 
turer and  orator,  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Redeemer,  one 
of  the  largest  Congregational  churches  in  New  Haven,  was 
born  in  West  Troy,  Rensselaer  County,  New  York,  January  28th,  1850, 
the  son  of  Jonas  and  Maria  E.  Nims  Phillips.  His  father  was  a 
teacher  and  clergyman,  a  fluent  preacher  and  a  most  energetic  and  in- 
dustrious man  who  was  particularly  zealous  in  promoting  missionary 
movements.  Dr.  Phillips'  mother  was  a  woman  of  great  piety  and 
strong  intellect  and  her  influence  upon  her  son's  moral  and  spiritual 
development  was  very  great.  Little  is  known  of  his  paternal  ances- 
tors, but  on  his  mother's  side  Dr.  Phillips  is  a  descendant  of  Godfrey 
Nims  who  was  an  early  settler  of  Deerfield,  Massachusetts,  and  whose 
home  was  burned  in  the  Deerfield  Massacre,  at  which  time  part  of  his 
family  were  killed  and  the  rest  carried  off  to  Canada. 

Public  speaking  and  out-of-door  sports  were  Watson  L.  Phillips' 
chief  interests  in  boyhood,  and  this  fact  proclaims  him  to  have  been 
vigorous  in  mind  and  body.  He  read  widely  and  enjoyed  history, 
biography,  and  the  great  poets  and  novelists  with  particular  apprecia- 
tion. He  had  regular  tasks  to  perform  at  home  and  was  obliged  to 
learn  many  lessons  of  economy.  In  fact  it  was  necessary  to  borrow 
money  for  his  education,  but  such  an  investment  proved  a  good  one 
to  the  lender.  After  preliminary  study  at  the  boys'  school  in  Ballston, 
New  York,  at  the  Latin  School  in  Poultney,  Vermont,  and  at  Fort 
Edward  Institute,  Fort  Edward,  he  entered  Wesleyan  University, 
where  he  was  graduated  in  1872  with  the  degree  of  B.A.  He  fol- 
lowed this  academic  training  by  a  year  at  the  Boston  School  of  The- 
ology, but  he  did  not  complete  the  divinity  course  there,  as  he  pre- 
ferred to  enter  at  once  upon  active  work  in  the  ministry  that  he  might 
pay  without  further  delay  the  debt  incurred  for  his  college  educa- 
tion. He  began  his  ministry  in  1872  in  the  Methodist  denomination, 

869 


370  WATSON  LYMAN  PHILLIPS. 

and  his  first  parish  was  in  West  Duxbury,  Massachusetts.  Though 
his  course  in  theology  was  interrupted  before  it  led  to  any  degree 
he  has  since  received  the  honorary  degree  of  D.D.  from  Wesleyan 
and  Dickinson  Colleges,  both  in  1898.  After  filling  several  pastorates 
in  Massachusetts  Dr.  Phillips  was  called  to  the  Summerfield  Church 
in  Brooklyn  in  1880.  He  subsequently  served  St.  John's  Church  in 
the  same  city  and  the  First  Church  in  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa.,  when  a 
change  in  his  form  of  belief  led  him  to  connect  himself  with  the  Con- 
gregational Church.  In  1890  he  received  the  call  to  his  present  pas- 
torate, the  Church  of  the  Eedeemer  in  New  Haven,  one  of  the  largest 
and  most  prominent  Congregational  Churches  in  Connecticut  and 
the  center  of  many  religious,  philanthropic  and  missionary  activities 
and  organizations.  Dr.  Phillips'  magnetism  as  a  leader  of  men,  his 
ability  as  an  organizer  and  his  powerful  eloquence  in  the  pulpit  and 
on  the  lecture  platform  are  potent  factors  in  increasing  the  efficiency 
and  zeal  of  the  many  working  organizations  of  his  church  and  in 
raising  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  standards  of  the  community. 

Dr.  Phillips  has  been  engaged  in  active  ministerial  work  contin- 
uously since  leaving  the  theological  school  and  he  has  found  time  for 
many  other  interests  and  services,  having  been  president  of  the  Or- 
ganized Charities  Association,  and  of  the  Florence  Crittenden  Home, 
chaplain  of  the  2d  Company  Governor's  Foot  Guards,  chairman  of 
the  executive  committee  of  the  Congregational  Home  Missionary 
Society  and  vice-president  of  the  Connecticut  Missionary  Society. 
He  is  a  corporate  member  of  the  American  Board  of  Missions  and  of 
the  Connecticut  Bible  Society  and  a  director  in  many  charitable  and 
religious  organizations.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Alpha  Delta  Phi  and 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  fraternities,  a  Freemason,  a  member  of  the  Grad- 
uates Club,  the  Congregational  Club  and  the  Country  Club  of  New 
Haven.  He  is  .devoted  to  athletics  and  takes  especial  interest  in  base- 
ball, boating,  and  gymnastics.  He  spends  much  time  in  the  summer 
working  around  his  country  home.  He  is  a  well  known  and  popular 
lecturer  and  after-dinner  speaker.  In  politics  he  is  a  consistent  and 
unvarying  Eepublican. 

In  1873  Dr.  Phillips  married  Ella  V.  Stetson  of  East  Pembroke, 
Massachusetts,  and  three  children,  Arthur.  Frank,  and  Euth,  have 
been  born  of  this  marriage.  Mrs.  Phillips  is  a  descendant  of  Gov. 
Thomas  Prince,  governor  of  Plymouth  Colony  in  1634. 


WATSON  LYMAN  PHILLIPS.  371 

The  response  which  Dr.  Phillips  makes  to  the  question  as  to 
what  is  the  surest  and  soundest  means  of  success  in  one's  life  work, 
is  most  indicative  of  his  own  course  of  conduct.  He  advocates 
"  physical  exercise,  reading  good  books,  cherishing  high  aims,  un- 
selfishness, industry,  filling  each  position  as  it  comes  and  thus  fitting 
one's  self  for  something  better." 


FRANK  LOUIS  HUNGERFORD 

HUNGERFORD,  FRANK  LOUIS,  senior  member  of  the  Hart- 
ford law  firm  of  Hungerford,  Hyde,  Joslyn  &  Gilman,  was 
born  in  Torrington,  Litchfield  County,  November  6th,  1843. 
He  is  a  descendant  of  Thomas  Hungerford  who  came  from  England 
and  settled  in  Hartford  about  1639.  Judge  Hungerford's  father  was 
John  Hungerford,  a  manufacturer  in  Torrington,  and  his  mother  was 
Charlotte  (Austin)  Hungerford.  She  was  of  the  family  of  Samuel 
Mills,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions ; 
her  influence  upon  her  son's  moral  and  spiritual  life  was  very  pro- 
nounced. 

It  was  the  boy's  ambition  to  get  a  good  education.  The  path 
was  not  easy.  In  1860,  however,  in  common  schools  and  by  private 
study,  he  had  prepared  himself  for  a  college  course  and  entered  the 
University  of  Vermont.  After  two  years  in  the  University,  an  oppor- 
tunity opened  for  him  to  go  into  the  office  of  one  of  the  country's 
most  distinguished  lawyers  and  statesmen,  Senator  George  F.  Ed- 
munds, of  Burlington,  Vermont.  There  he  could  indulge  his  taste 
for  law  books  and  there  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  legal  learning 
which  assured  him  advancement  at  the  outset.  Admitted  to  the  Bar 
in  Vermont  in  1865,  he  could  have  remained  in  Burlington  to  take 
care  of  Senator  Edmund's  practice;  the  offer  was  very  gratifying  and 
in  striking  evidence  of  the  Senator's  appreciation  of  his  worth,  but  his 
mind  turned  toward  Connecticut  and  hither  he  returned,  to  open  an 
office  in  Torrington  in  1866.  Success  attended  him  from  the  first, 
and  the  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  was  attested  by  his  election  to  the 
responsible  office  of  judge  of  probate. 

In  1869,  he  removed  to  New  Britain  to  become  partner  with  the 
Hon.  Charles  E.  Mitchell,  late  Commissioner  of  Patents,  the  firm 
name  being  Mitchell  and  Hungerford.  Some  twenty  years  later  Mr. 
John  P.  Bartlett  was  taken  into  the  firm  and  the  name  was  changed  to 
Mitchell,  Hungerford  &  Bartlett.  For  a  period  of  nearly  thirty 
years,  Judge  Hungerford's  business  life  in  New  Britain  covered  the 

372 


FRANK  LOUIS   HUNGERFOBD.  375 

period  of  the  growth  of  a  small  town  to  one  of  the  foremost  manu- 
facturing communities  in  New  England,  and  his  was  no  small  part  in 
the  upbuilding.  At  different  times  he  was  judge  of  probate,  city  at- 
torney and  corporation  counsel.  He  is  to-day  a  director  of  the  Russell 
&  Erwin  Manufacturing  Company,  the  Stanley  Rule  &  Level  Com- 
pany, the  New  Britain  National  Bank,  the  Burritt  Savings  Bank  and 
the  New  Britain  Institute.  Interested  also  in  the  moral  welfare  of  the 
city,  he  was  chosen  deacon  of  the  First  Church  of  Christ  in  1874,  and 
was  president  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  for  twelve 
years  from  1889. 

In  1897,  the  New  Britain  partnership  was  dissolved  and  Mr. 
Hungerford  became  the  head  of  the  widely  known  Hartford  firm  of 
Hungerford,  Hyde,  Joslyn  &  Oilman.  While  not  especially  interested 
in  politics,  he  has  given  freely  of  his  advice  in  the  shaping  of  some  of 
the  best  statutes  for  preserving  and  improving  moral  conditions.  He 
votes  with  the  Republican  party.  The  University  of  Vermont  has 
conferred  the  degree  of  M.  A.  upon  him. 

His  wife  is  Sarah  A.  Churchill,  of  New  Britain,  whom  he 
married  on  December  21st,  1869.  They  have  one  son,  William  C. 
Hungerford,  who  is  a  member  of  the  same  law  firm  with  his  father. 


CHARLES  EDWARD   CHANDLER 

C  HANDLES,  CHARLES  EDWAED,  civil  engineer,  of  Norwich, 
Connecticut,  who  was  horn  in  Killingly,  Windham  County, 
Connecticut,  March  8th,  1852,  is  the  son  of  Albert  Charles 
Chandler,  a  farmer,  who  served  his  townsmen  as  assessor  and  as  a 
member  of  the  district  committee,  and  of  Marissa  Phebe  Davis,  a 
woman  who  taught  her  son  by  precept  and  example  lasting  lessons  of 
true  unselfishness  and  right  living.  Albert  Chandler,  the  father,  was 
a  man  known  for  his  honesty  and  his  strict  attention  to  his  own 
affairs.  Going  farther  back  in  the  study  of  Mr.  Chandler's  ancestry 
we  find  the  distinguished  Stephen  Hopkins,  who  came  over  in  the 
Mayflower.  Mr.  Chandler's  great-grandfather  was  Mose  Cleveland, 
a  soldier  in  the  Revolutionary  War. 

Like  the  average  farmer's  boy  Mr.  Chandler  found  plenty  to  busy 
him  in  his  boyhood  days  —  "  There  was  always  something  to  do  and 
some  one  to  tell  you  to  do  it,"  and  he  became  sufficiently  accustomed 
to  drudgery  to  enjoy  other  pursuits  by  contrast.  His  greatest  enjoy- 
ment was  in  books  and  study,  and  he  made  the  most  of  the  educa- 
tional advantages  afforded  him  at  a  private  school  in  Putnam,  Con- 
necticut, and  at  the  Academy  in  Woodstock,  Connecticut. 

His  real  work  in  life  began  in  1872  when  he  went  to  work  as  rod- 
man  for  Edgar  Clark,  civil  engineer,  in  Putnam,  Connecticut.  This 
occupation  was  entered  upon  through  personal  preference  encouraged 
by  the  principal  of  the  Woodstock  Academy.  Mr.  Chandler  remained 
in  the  employ  of  Edgar  Clark  one  year,  which  was  followed  by  four 
years  in  the  employ  of  W.  C.  Stanton  of  Norwich,  Connecticut.  Then, 
in  1877,  he  became  city  engineer  of  Norwich,  in  which  responsible 
position  he  served  until  1902.  During  and  since  that  time  he  has 
been  patronized  by  many  individuals,  corporations  and  municipalities, 
and  has  carried  on  many  important  undertakings  with  the  greatest 
skill  and  judgment.  In  addition  to  the  pursuit  of  his  calling  of  civil 
engineer  Mr.  Chandler  is  a  director  of  the  Chelsea  Savings  Bank,  and 
is  now  on  his  second  year  as  president  of  the  Norwich  Board  of  Trade. 

376 


EDWABD  CHANDLER  377 

He  has  always  been  a  member  of  the  Eepublican  party,  and  his  reli- 
gious ties  are  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  His  society 
membership  is  confined  to  the  Sons  of  the  American  Kevolution.  In 
October,  1876,  Mr.  Chandler  married  Frances  Eugenie  Brown.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Chandler  have  had  two  children,  but  one  of  whom  is  now 
living.  Their  home  is  at  154  McKinley  Avenue,  Norwich,  Con- 
necticut. 

Mr.  Chandler  says  — "  Young  men  of  extraordinary  capacity 
need  no  suggestions.  The  ordinary  boy,  who  is  such  a  large  majority, 
should  cultivate  a  love  for  nature  and  a  capacity  for  the  enjoyment 
of  simple  pleasures  that  he  may  be  happy  and  make  others  happy,  with- 
out indulging  in  any  of  the  various  ways  in  which  money  is  obtained 
without  rendering  an  equivalent  therefor." 


EUGENE   ATWOOD 

ATWOOD,  EUGENE,  president  and  treasurer  of  the  Atwood- 
Morrison  Machine  Company  of  Stonington,  Connecticut,  the 
largest  concern  for  the  manufacture  of  silk  machinery  in  the 
world,  is  a  native  of  Mansfield,  Connecticut,  where  he  was  born  Sep- 
tember 20th,  1846.  He  belongs  to  a  family  which  have  conducted  the 
silk  machinery  industry  for  three  generations  and  as  pioneers,  in- 
ventors and  developers  of  the  art  of  machine  making  and  silk  weaving 
have  an  unrivaled  international  reputation.  Mr.  Atwood  is  a 
descendant  of  Harmon  Atwood  who  came  from  Surrey,  England,  to 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  before  1642  and  whose  son  John  Atwood  was 
lieutenant  of  an  artillery  company  and  a  deacon  in  the  historic  Old 
North  Church  of  Boston.  John  Atwood,  third,  was  a  sergeant  in  the 
Revolution.  William  Atwood,  Eugene  Atwood's  grandfather,  was  a 
pioneer  of  the  silk  industry  in  this  country  and  was  one  of  the  six 
promoters  of  the  well  known  Mansfield  Silk  Company  in  1821. 
Eugene  Atwood's  parents  were  John  Edwin  and  Lydia  Amanda  Conant 
Atwood.  His  father  was  one  of  the  most  successful  mechanical  in- 
ventors of  his  day  and  made  many  valuable  and  wonderful  improve- 
ments in  silk  machinery. 

The  love  of  mechanical  work  and  the  rare  constructive  genius  of 
his  forefathers  was  inherited  by  Eugene  Atwood  in  a  marked  degree 
and  as  soon  as  he  left  school  he  entered  the  family  factories  in  Mans- 
field, where  he  remained  until  he  was  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  learn- 
ing every  detail  of  the  industry  and  mastering  it  with  characteristic 
skill  and  ease.  In  1876  the  Mansfield  plant  was  destroyed  by  fire  and 
the  concern  was  moved  to  Stonington,  its  present  seat.  In  1896  the 
company  was  incorporated  with  Eugene  Atwood  as  president  and  in 
1898  it  consolidated  with  the  Morrison  Company  and  he  added  the 
responsibilities  of  treasurer  to  those  of  president. 

Outside  of  his  manifold  cares  as  captain  of  an  enormous  industry 
Eugene  Atwood  has  little  time  for  social  and  political  activities.  He 

378 


EUGENE  ATWOOD.  379 

is,  however,  a  Mason.  He  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  wife, 
Alice  Henry  Atwood,  is  survived  by  one  daughter.  The  present  Mrs. 
Atwood  was  Annie  Cutler  and  is  the  mother  of  one  son  and  two 
daughters.  The  Atwood  home  is  in  Stonington. 


19 


GEORGE  FRANCIS  LOCKWOOD 

LOCKWOOD,  GEOEGE  FKANCIS,  manufacturer,  banker,  and 
town  official  of  New  Canaan,  Fairfield  County,  Connecticut, 
has  been  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Benedict  &  Company,  shoe 
manufacturers,  in  that  town  for  the  past  twenty-five  years,  and  has 
been  identified  with  the  public  and  business  interests  of  that  commun- 
ity for  a  longer  period  of  time.  He  was  born  in  Stamford,  Fairfield 
County,  Connecticut,  November  17th,  1849,  the  son  of  John  Davis 
and  Jeanette  Gray  Lockwood.  His  father  was  a  superintendent  in 
Hecker's  Flour  Mill  in  New  York,  and  died  when  his  son  George  was 
but  seven  years  of  age.  Mr.  Lockwood's  mother  carried  on  the  boy's 
mental  and  moral  training  and  her  influence  was  a  powerful  one  for 
his  good.  His  grandfather,  Dr.  Samuel  Lockwood,  was  a  physician 
of  highest  repute  in  the  town  of  Stamford,  and  through  him  Mr.  Lock- 
wood  is  a  descendant  of  Eobert  Lockwood,  who  came  from  England 
to  America  in  1630  and  settled  in  Watertown,  Massachusetts,  after- 
wards removing  to  Fairfield,  Connecticut. 

New  York  and  Stamford  were  the  places  where  most  of  George 
Lockwood's  youth  was  spent.  He  was  delicate  in  constitution,  but  was 
fond  of  outdoor  sports,  which  helped  to  increase  his  physical  vigor.  He 
attended  the  public  schools  and  Professor  Glendening's  school  in  Stam- 
ford, but  did  not  go  to  college  or  even  receive  a  college  preparation. 
At  the  early  age  of  fourteen  he  went  to  work  in  the  Stamford  Bank 
and  remained  in  the  employ  of  that  bank  until  1869,  that  is,  until  he 
was  nineteen  years  of  age,  when  he  spent  a  short  time  as  cashier  with 
McCreery  &  Co.,  New  York.  He  was  then  engaged  for  two  years 
on  the  Northern  Pacific  Survey  in  Minnesota,  and  upon  his  return  to 
Connecticut  in  1872  he  took  a  position  in  the  New  Canaan  Bank, 
where  he  remained  for  ten  years.  During  that  time,  in  1878,  he 
married  Emma  North  Benedict,  a  daughter  of  the  senior  partner  of 
the  firm  of  Benedict  &  Company  of  New  Canaan. 

In  1882  Mr.  Lockwood  gave  up  the  banking  business  to  enter 
the  Benedict  firm,  and  he  has  been  a  partner  in  that  company  for  the 

380 


GEORGE  FRANCIS  LOCKWOOD.  383 

twenty-five  subsequent  years.  He  has  been  prominent  in  business 
and  public  affairs  in  New  Canaan  ever  since  he  made  that  town  his 
home.  In  1877  he  was  made  town  treasurer  and  held  this  office  for 
two  years.  In  1892  and  1893  he  was  warden  of  the  borough  of  New 
Canaan  and  for  the  past  ten  years  he  has  been  treasurer  of  the  town 
board  of  education.  For  the  past  twelve  years  he  has  been  treasurer 
of  the  New  Canaan  Savings  Bank,  and  since  1898  he  has  been  vice- 
president  of  the  First  National  Bank  of  New  Canaan.  As  an  execu- 
tor and  trustee  of  the  George  H.  Hoyt  estate  in  Stamford  he  has  a 
still  further  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  ability  as  a  financier  and 
manager. 

Mr.  Lockwood  is  a  prominent  churchman  and  has  been  a  warden 
of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  New  Canaan  for  twenty-five  years.  In 
politics  he  is  an  Independent.  Gardening  is  his  chief  pleasure  and 
recreation,  for  he  is  a  great  lover  of  flowers  and  of  quiet  outdoor  life. 
He  believes  that  the  man  who  is  "  honest,  sober,  and  faithful,  and  not 
too  impatient  for  results,"  is  the  one  who  is  sure  to  succeed.  His 
own  career  exemplifies  this  belief  most  effectively. 


CHARLES  BOOTH  BUCKINGHAM 

BUCKINGHAM,  CHAELES  BOOTH,  president  and  treasurer 
of  N.  Buckingham  and  Company,  incorporated,  dealers  in 
furniture  and  undertakers'  supplies,  of  Bridgeport,  Fairfield 
County,  Connecticut,  is  the  son  of  Nathan  Buckingham,  a  merchant, 
and  of  Mary  A.  Booth  Buckingham,  a  mother  whose  influence  has  been 
in  all  ways  lastingly  good  and  strong  upon  the  mind  and  character  of 
her  son.     On  the  paternal  side  Mr.  Buckingham  traces  his  ancestral 
line  to  Thomas  Buckingham  who  came  from  England  to  Milford  in 
1639  and  on  the  maternal  side  to  Richard  Booth  who  came  from  Eng- 
land to  Stratford  in  1640. 

Bridgeport  was  Charles  Buckingham's  birthplace  and  the  date  of 
his  birth  was  September  20th,  1847.  He  spent  his  youth  as  well  as  his 
mature  life  in  that  city  and  acquired  his  early  education  in  the 
Bridgeport  public  schools.  He  also  attended  Colonel  Emory  P. 
Strong's  Military  School  which  he  left  at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  go  to 
work  with  his  father. 

It  was  in  1863  that  young  Mr.  Buckingham  entered  his  father's 
factory  and  store  and  he  speedily  mastered  all  the  details  of  the  furni- 
ture business.  He  is  now  president  and  treasurer  of  the  company, 
one  of  the  foremost  of  its  kind  in  Bridgeport.  He  is  also  a  trustee 
of  the  City  Savings  Bank  of  Bridgeport,  a  member  of  the  Bridgeport 
Business  Men's  Association  and  of  the  Bridgeport  Board  of  Trade. 

Patriotic,  social  and  fraternal  orders  engage  Mr.  Buckingham's 
active  interest  as  well  as  church  and  politics.  He  is  a  loyal  member 
of  the  Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  was  a  member  of  its  State 
Board  for  six  years  and  was  president  of  the  General  Silliman  Branch 
of  that  society  in  1905-1906.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Patriots  and 
Founders  Society,  of  Arcanum  Lodge,  I.  0.  0.  F.  and  of  the  Seaside 
Club  of  Bridgeport.  In  politics  he  is  a  Republican  and  in  religious 
affiliations  a  Universalist.  Some  time  ago  Mr.  Buckingham  experi- 
enced five  years  of  military  service  in  the  Connecticut  National 
Guards. 

384 


CHARLES  BOOTH  BUCKINGHAM.  385 

In  March,  1875,  Mr.  Buckingham  married  Justine  H.  Bellows, 
who  became  the  mother  of  three  children.  Mrs.  Buckingham  died 
in  September,  1905,  and  is  survived  by  two  children,  Nathan  C.  and 
Earl  M.  Mr.  Buckingham's  home  is  at  895  Fairfield  Avenue,  Bridge- 
port. 


THOMAS   BENJAMIN   DOOLITTLE 

DOOLITTLE,  THOMAS  BENJAMIN,  of  Branford,  Connecti- 
cut, manufacturer  and  the  inventor  of  telephone  exchange 
apparatus  and  of  hard-drawn  copper  wire,  was  born  in  Wood- 
bury,  Litchfield  County,  Connecticut,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  June, 
1839.  His  ancestor  in  this  country  was  Abraham  Doolittle,  who  came 
from  England  to  Salem,  Massachusetts,  and  went  thence  to  New 
Haven  about  1642,  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  Wallingford, 
Connecticut,  where  he  died.  He  was  a  member  of  the  "  Vigilance 
Committee  "  at  the  time  of  King  Philip's  War  and  was  county  sheriff, 
selectman  and  deputy  to  the  General  Court  at  different  times.  Ben- 
jamin Doolittle,  Mr.  Doolittle's  grandfather,  served  in  the  Kevolution. 
Mr.  Doolittle's  father,  also  Benjamin  Doolittle,  served  in  the  War 
of  1812  as  a  drummer  boy  in  the  New  Haven  Grays.  He  was  a  manu- 
facturer and  later  in  the  express  business,  and  his  most  prominent 
traits  were  sterling  integrity  and  good  judgment.  Added  to  the 
influence  of  such  a  character  was  the  strong  moral,  intellectual  and 
spiritual  stimulus  in  the  character  of  Mr.  Doolittle's  mother,  whose 
maiden  name  was  Betsey  Collier  More. 

Mr.  Doolittle's  father  was  desirous  that  one  of  his  sons  should 
become  a  farmer,  and  he  selected  Thomas  B.  as  this  son  and  placed  him 
at  the  age  of  eleven,  with  his  brother  who  was  a  farmer  in  Wallingford, 
Connecticut.  The  boy's  chief  interest  was  in  the  study  of  mechanics, 
and  he  spent  all  of  his  spare  time  making  mechanical  toys  and  appli- 
ances, with  a  skill  and  interest  prophetic  of  his  later  success.  He 
read  works  on  mechanics  and  engineering  with  keen  interest,  and  thus 
was  able  to  supplement  his  rather  limited  technical  knowledge  with 
material  best  adapted  to  the  needs  of  his  future  vocation.  Meanwhile 
he  attended  the  common  schools  in  Woodbury  and  Wallingford,  Con- 
necticut, and  the  Woodbury  Academy  until  he  was  seventeen,  when 
he  became  an  apprentice  at  the  trade  of  machinist. 

In  1861  he  began  his  actual  work  in  life  as  foreman  of  a  depart- 
ment in  Colt's  Armory  at  Hartford.  He  afterwards  became  a  con- 


THOMAS   BENJAMIN   DOOLITTLE.  389 

tractor  for  the  manufacture  of  Springfield  rifles  with  the  same  com- 
pany, and  remained  in  this  position  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In 
1868  he  became  president  of  a  Bridgeport  corporation  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  metallic  goods.  In  1877  Mr.  Doolittle  became  inter- 
ested in  the  development  of  the  telephone,  and  this  interest  had  most 
important  results.  He  took  out  the  first  letters  patent  ever  issued, 
showing  a  complete  telephone  exchange,  and  designed  the  first  tele- 
phone switchboard  ever  made  by  a  manufacturing  company  and  turned 
out  complete.  The  same  year  he  invented  hard-drawn  copper  wire, 
now  manufactured  at  the  rate  of  over  eighty  million  pounds  a  year, 
and  which  has  made  telephoning  on  long  lines  practicable  as  well  as 
possible.  For  this  invention  he  was  awarded  the  Edward  Longstreet 
medal  by  the  Franklin  Institute  in  Philadelphia.  He  strung  the  first 
telephone  wires  in  Bridgeport  and  soon  became  connected  with  the 
American  Bell  Telephone  Company,  and  has  ever  since  been  engaged 
on  the  broader  lines  of  development  of  the  telephone  interests  of  that 
company  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  In  addition  to  his  many 
valuable  inventions  directly  concerned  with  the  telephone,  Mr.  Doo- 
little invented  the  car-fare  register  and  many  other  devices  and  pieces 
of  machinery. 

December  24th,  1866,  Mr.  Doolittle  married  Mary  Louise  Bradley 
of  Ansonia.  Of  the  five  children  born  of  this  union  four  are  now 
living:  Charles  Benjamin,  Harry  Willett,  Euth  Elnor,  and  Edith 
Young.  There  is  much  of  interest  in  Mr.  Doolittle's  private  life  as 
well  as  in  his  business  career.  Home  life  is  his  chief  enjoyment,  and 
is  especially  pleasurable  because  it  is  laid  in  the  country.  Hunting 
and  fishing  have  been,  and  club  life  now  is  his  favorite  relaxation,  and 
Mr.  Doolittle's  club  ties  are  chiefly  in  organizations  interested  in  lit- 
erature and  art.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  Phila- 
delphia, the  American  Geographical  Society  of  Washington,  of  the 
Players  Club  of  New  York,  the  St.  Botolph  and  Papyrus  Clubs  of 
Boston,  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers  of  New  York, 
and  St.  John's  Lodge,  No.  4,  F.  and  A.  M.  of  Hartford,  Connecticut. 
In  politics  he  is  a  Democrat  on  the  broad  principle,  and  has  generally 
affiliated  with  the  Democratic  party.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Doolittle's  course  in  life  has  been  of  his  own  choosing,  and 
the  strongest  influences  upon  it  have  been  private  study  and  contact 


390  THOMAS  BENJAMIN  DOOLITTLE. 

with  men  in  active  life.  Of  the  results  he  says,  "Wherein  I  have 
failed  to  accomplish  a  given  result  it  has  been  largely  due  to  procras- 
tination. I  would  say  that  to  achieve  success  it  is  necessary  to  first 
discover  the  underlying  principle  of  whatever  you  undertake,  then 
build  upon  it.  Never  jump  at  a  conclusion.  Try  to  excel  in  one 
thing  as  a  means  of  livelihood.  Afterward  you  may  take  up  others 
as  a  pastime  or  as  a  means  of  recreation.  Should  you,  however, 
achieve  mastery  in  another  direction  it  is  oftentimes  justifiable  to 
change  your  vocation.  Take  a  lively  interest  in  your  church  and 
your  government,  but  keep  them  separate.  In  the  evolution  of  me- 
chanical science  it  is  impossible  to  anticipate  the  source,  or  the  mind, 
from  whence  invention  will  come.  I  once  saw  a  great  engineer  watch- 
ing and  questioning  a  common  workman.  He  turned  to  me  and  said : 
'  This  man  has  discovered  a  new  mechanical  movement.'  I  have  ob- 
served that  the  greatest  engineers  are  most  observant  of  what  appear 
to  be  little  things.  I  would  say,  as  a  rule  of  conduct,  treat  no  man 
with  indifference  until  you  have  met  with  one  who  cannot  impart  to 
you  some  knowledge  that  you  are  ashamed  not  to  have  possessed." 


CHARLES  STEDMAN  MACFARLAND 

MACFARLAND,  EEV.  CHARLES  STEDMAN,  Ph.D., 
clergyman,  lecturer  and  author,  minister  of  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  of  South  Norwalk,  Connecticut,  one  of 
the  foremost  scholars  in  the  State,  was  born  in  Boston,  December 
12th,  1866,  the  son  of  Daniel  and  Sarah  Abigail  Crafts  Macfarland. 
His  early  education  was  obtained  at  the  Chapman  School  in  Boston 
and  at  the  East  Boston  High  School.  The  family  circumstances  were 
such  that  at  the  early  age  of  eleven,  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  he 
was  obliged  to  earn  his  own  way  and  assist  in  the  support  of  the 
others.  He  engaged  in  several  employments,  among  others  carrying 
on  his  own  printing  office  and  selling  newspapers.  By  this  means 
he  completed  his  high  school  course.  He  entered  actual  business 
life  at  seventeen,  and,  after  four  years  as  bookkeeper  and  traveling 
salesman,  at  twenty-one  he  became  a  partner  and  general  manager  of 
the  manufacturing  and  commission  firm  of  T.  0.  Gardner  and  Com- 
pany, of  New  York  and  Boston. 

After  seven  years  of  business  experience  he  was  in  a  position  to 
fulfill  his  hopes  of  a  life  devoted  to  education  and  religious  work, 
and  in  1892  he  withdrew  from  business  and  became  the  first  general 
secretary  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  at  Melrose,  Mass., 
where  he  remained  for  a  year.  The  following  year  he  spent  as  as- 
sistant pastor  of  the  Maverick  Congregational  Church  in  his  boy- 
hood home  at  East  Boston,  where  he  had  charge  of  a  mission  among 
the  poor,  mainly  emigrants.  In  1894  he  entered  Yale  University, 
after  a  ten  years'  interruption  in  his  regular  education,  and  pursued 
courses  in  both  the  academic  and  theological  departments,  making  a 
remarkable  record  in  scholarship.  He  became  a  successful  leader  of 
inter-collegiate  debates,  and  was  president  of  the  Leonard  Bacon 
Debating  Club  of  Yale.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first  Yale  team 
to  defeat  Harvard  in  debate,  at  Cambridge,  in  1897.  He  was  or- 
dained in  1897  when  he  took  his  B.D.  degree  and  two  years  later  1 
received  his  Ph.D.  degree  at  Yale.  Meanwhile  he  had  spent  som. 

391 


392  CHARLES    STEDMAN   MACFAELAND. 

time  abroad  in  1898.  For  two  years  after  his  graduation  he  coached 
the  debating  teams  at  Yale  as  assistant  to  Prof,  (now  President) 
Hadley,  and  in  1899  he  was  appointed  an  assistant  in  the  department 
of  Semitic  languages  and  Biblical  literature.  During  the  greater  part 
of  his  University  life  Dr.  Macfarland  was  acting  pastor  of  Bethany 
Congregational  Church.  In  1900  he  was  called  to  the  Maplewood 
Congregational  Church  in  Maiden,  Mass.,  and  remained  there  until 
his  call  to  South  Norwalk  in  1906.  While  in  Maiden  he  served  as 
West  Point  examiner  for  his  Congressional  district  and  also  for  the 
naval  academy  at  Annapolis.  He  was  especially  influential  in  the 
civic  and  political  life  of  his  city. 

Dr.  Macfarland  is  a  traveler  of  wide  experience  and  has  been 
in  every  state  in  the  Union,  all  through  Canada,  and  has  spent  several 
years  altogether  in  study  and  travel  in  Europe.  He  has  been  abroad 
nine  times  and  was  for  several  years  the  director  and  instructor  of  the 
Travel  Club,  an  organization  for  educational  foreign  travel.  He  is 
now  the  president  of  the  organization,  whose  offices  are  in  Boston  and 
London.  He  has  visited  all  the  great  universities  of  Europe.  He 
preaches  in  leading  London  pulpits  every  summer  and  his  sermons 
are  printed  regularly  in  the  "  Christian  World  Pulpit,"  of  London. 
He  is  a  popular,  thorough,  and  frequent  lecturer  on  philosophic, 
religious,  scientific,  and  literary  subjects.  He  has  lectured  and 
preached  at  various  educational  institutions,  including  Yale,  Auburn 
Theological  Seminary,  and  Wells  College.  He  has  a  large  and  rare 
collection  of  books,  curios  and  art  treasurers  of  foreign  lands,  which 
bespeak  his  culture  and  taste  and  greatly  aid  him  in  his  plans  for 
the  education  and  enjoyment  of  his  fellow  men.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  American  Oriental  Society,  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature 
and  Exegesis,  of  the  National  Geographic  Society,  a  fellow  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science  and  belongs  to  a 
number  of  college  and  university  clubs.  He  was  for  some  time  the 
American  representative  of  the  Polytechnic  Institute  of  London.  He 
is  the  author  of  a  book  of  sermons  entitled  "  The  Spirit  Christ-like," 
an  historical,  exegetical  and  interpretative  discussion  of  our  Lord's 
attitude  toward  Old  Testament  prophecy  called  "Jesus  and  the 
Prophets,"  which  is  recognized  as  the  best  authority  on  the  subject  in 
English;  and  of  "The  Infinite  Affection,"  a  statement  of  modern 
theological  positions.  He  has  always  been  a  prolific  contributor  to 


CHARLES   STEDMAN   MACFABLAND.  393 

magazines  and  his  eloquent  sermons  are  frequently  printed.  In 
politics  he  is  a  Eepublican. 

Mrs.  Macfarland,  whom  he  married  in  1904,  was  Mary  Perley 
Merrill,  daughter  of  Dr.  James  G.  Merrill,  president  of  Fisk  Uni- 
versity. She  is  a  graduate  of  Smith  College  and  a  woman  of  unusual 
mental  capacity.  She  too  has  spent  much  time  in  study  and  travel 
abroad  and  was  instructor  in  Latin  and  history  at  Fisk  University. 
Their  present  home  is  at  the  attractive  parsonage  in  South  Norwalk, 
where  Dr.  Macfarland's  pastorate  is  proving  popular  and  effective. 
They  have  one  child,  Charles  Stedman  Macfarland,  Jr.,  born  Feb- 
ruary 7th,  1905. 

Recently  Dr.  Macfarland  has  been  turning  more  and  more  away 
from  his  natural  bent  towards  philosophical  and  theological  studies 
and  has  taken  up  with  deep  interest  the  consideration  of  economic 
and  social  questions  which  he  began  under  President  Hadley  at  Yale. 

He  has  the  confidence  of  the  labor  unions,  is  frequently  and 
widely  called  upon  to  address  them  and  is  coming  more  and  more 
to  be  considered  as  a  champion  of  their  cause. 

Theologically  he  belongs  to  the  newer  school  of  thought  His 
ministry  and  his  church  in  South  Norwalk  are  distinguished  for  in- 
tellectual freedom  and  strength  and  are  proving  especially  attractive 
to  the  strong  men  of  the  city. 


SIMEON   HARRISON   WAGNER 

WAGNER,  SIMEON  HARRISON,  a  prominent  lawyer  of  New 
Haven,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  on 
June  18th,  1849.  His  father  was  Daniel  Wilson  Wagner,  a 
farmer  and  manufacturer,  and  his  mother  was  Melinda  L.  (Harrison) 
Wagner. 

Mr.  Wagner's  American  ancestors  on  his  father's  side  were  among 
the  early  settlers  in  Pennsylvania,  previous  to  the  Massacre  of  Wyo- 
ming, in  which  Indian  uprising  the  family  was  nearly  extinguished, 
and  who  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  future  growth  of  that  State. 
On  his  mother's  side  the  family  is  traced  back  to  the  sturdy  old  Puri- 
tanical stock  in  the  person  of  Elder  Brewster,  who  landed  with  the 
brave  little  band  from  the  Mayflower  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Mr.  Wag- 
ner's father  was  a  man  of  broad  charity  but  quiet  determination,  who 
held  many  local  offices,  and  at  one  time  represented  the  town  of  Morris 
in  the  State  Legislature,  and  was  for  several  years  one  of  the  Harbor 
Commissioners  for  the  city  of  New  Haven.  His  mother  is  a  remarka- 
ble woman  in  many  ways,  as  she  is  still  living  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
seven,  and  retains  full  mental  vigor  and  health  with  a  most  cheerful 
disposition. 

In  his  childhood  Mr.  Wagner  had  a  great  passion  for  books,  and 
in  particular  those  which  related  to  the  histories  of  great  lawyers  and 
successful  men.  The  early  years  of  his  life,  until  he  was  fourteen 
years  of  age,  were  spent  in  the  fresh  air  of  the  country.  He  was  ac- 
tive in  the  management  of  his  father's  farm,  thus  developing  habits 
of  punctuality  and  a  tenacity  of  purpose  that  has  proved  invaluable 
in  after  life. 

It  is  Mr.  Wagner's  belief  that  the  reason  why  the  prominent  places 
in  the  financial  and  business  world  of  today  are  so  largely  filled  by 
farmers'  sons  is  because  of  the  fact  that  the  boy  who  is  reared  in  the 
country  on  a  farm  has  an  actual  knowledge  of  everything  pertaining  to 
nature,  and  must  rely  upon  his  own  resources  and  inventive  genius  to 
overcome  the  conditions  by  which  he  finds  himself  surrounded,  and 

394 


SIMEON  HARRISON  WAGNER.  397 

particularly  because  of  the  opportunity  that  the  farmer's  boy  has  in 
his  quiet  country  life  to  form  the  habit  of  careful  thinking,  which 
opportunity  the  city  boy  is  denied. 

Mr.  Wagner  received  his  rudimentary  education  in  the  old  Litch- 
field  Academy,  and  then  attended  the  famous  Hopkins  Grammar 
School  in  New  Haven  and  Columbian  College,  Washington,  D.  C.,  and 
graduated  from  the  Sheffield  Scientific  School  at  Yale  University  in 
1874.  Two  years  later  he  received  his  degree  of  LL.B.  from  the  Yale 
Law  School,  and  at  once  began  active  work  in  the  office  of  John  W. 
Ailing  in  New  Haven,  but  he  soon  opened  an  office  of  his  own  for  the 
general  practice  of  law,  and  after  continuing  for  a  few  years  he  entered 
into  a  partnership  with  the  Hon.  Thomas  M.  Waller,  and  they  opened 
offices  in  New  York  City  which  continued  for  many  years.  Mr.  Wag- 
ner took  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  introduction  of  electric  street 
railways  into  many  cities  and  towns  of  Connecticut,  and  is  a  director 
and  officer  of  many  traction  roads  not  only  in  Connecticut,  but  other 
New  England  states.  He  was  also  largely  instrumental  in  working 
out  the  present  laws  of  Connecticut  governing  street  railways  and 
other  quasi  public  corporations. 

On  October  16th,  1873,  Mr.  Wagner  was  married  to  Miss  Estellah 
S.  Converse  of  New  Haven.  They  have  one  son,  Harrison  G.  Wagner, 
a  graduate  of  Yale  Scientific  School,  class  of  1898. 

In  politics  Mr.  Wagner  was  for  many  years  very  active  with  the 
Democratic  party,  but  since  opening  a  New  York  City  office  has  taken 
a  less  active  part.  He  has  served  as  a  councilman  in  New  Haven, 
and  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Masons,  and  an  attendant  of  the 
Congregational  Church. 

Mr.  Wagner  in  his  early  life  turned  naturally  towards  the  law. 
His  first  strong  impulse  to  succeed  was  actuated  by  his  mother  and  a 
Miss  Mary  Blakeman,  a  teacher  of  his  early  youth.  Mr.  Wagner,  in 
advising  young  men  how  to  meet  life's  battles,  says :  "  First  cultivate 
the  love  of  country  and  a  feeling  of  personal  responsibility  as  to  its 
welfare.  Also  get  the  love  of  home.  Be  ambitious  to  be  known  as  a 
man  of  pure  habits  and  unimpeachable  honesty.  Have  the  courage 
of  your  convictions,  believe  in  hard  work,  and  never  contract  the 
tobacco  or  drink  habits.  Be  determined  that  your  road  must  be 
through  character  to  power." 


MERRIT  N.  WOODRUFF 

WOODRUFF,  MERKIT  N.,  president  of  the  Atwater  Manu- 
facturing Company  of  Southington,  and  the  oldest  busi- 
ness  man  in  that  town  today,  is  also  one  of  its  most  enter- 
prising and  useful  citizens.  He  was  born  in  Candor,  Tioga  County, 
New  York  on  February  22d,  1826,  and  his  parents  were  Sheldon  and 
Levea  Lewis  Woodruff.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  in  his  latter 
days  a  merchant  in  New  York  City.  On  his  side  Mr.  Woodruff  is  a 
descendant  of  Matthew  Woodruff,  who  settled  in  Farmington  in 
1640,  and  was  made  a  freeman  in  1657.  His  son  Samuel,  born  in 
1661,  settled  in  Southington  in  the  very  early  days  of  the  history  of 
that  place  and  was  well  known  for  his  great  tact  and  friendliness  in 
dealing  with  the  Indians  and  for  his  splendid  physique  and  great 
muscular  development  and  strength.  His  son  Samuel  Woodruff 
(second),  was  a  captain  of  militia  and  his  grandson,  the  third 
Samuel,  was  a  private  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  On  the  maternal 
side  Mr.  Woodruff  is  descended  from  William  Lewis,  who  sailed  from 
England  on  the  "  Lion "  in  1632,  landed  at  Boston  and  afterwards 
came  to  Hartford.  He  was  a  deputy  to  the  General  Court  and  one  of 
the  original  settlers  of  the  town  of  Hadley,  Massachusetts. 

The  Lewis  Academy  in  Southington,  a  private  school  in  Peeks- 
kill,  New  York,  and  public  schools  in  New  York  City  furnished 
Merrit  Woodruff's  boyhood  education  which  terminated  when  he  was 
eighteen  years  of  age.  He  then  went  to  New  York  to  work  in  the 
lumber  yard  owned  by  his  maternal  uncle,  the  late  Anson  Lewis. 
After  a  short  time  at  this  work  he  returned  to  Southington  to  work 
as  a  clerk  in  the  office  of  Amon  Bradley,  who  was  engaged  in  the 
business  of  general  merchandise.  Mr.  Woodruff  was  soon  taken  into 
the  firm  which  became  Amon  Bradley  and  Company  and  he  remained 
in  that  connection  carrying  on  a  most  prosperous  and  successful  busi- 
ness until  1865  when  the  partnership  was  dissolved.  Mr.  Woodruff 
then  established  a  store  and  tailoring  business  which  he  conducted 

398 


MERKIT   N.    WOODRUFF.  399 

for  two  years  and  after  his  retirement  from  that  business  he  became 
head  bookkeeper  for  J.  B.  Savage.  Three  years  later,  in  1875,  he 
left  Mr.  Savage  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  Atwater  Manufactur- 
ing Company  of  which  large  and  prosperous  industry  he  is  still  presi- 
dent and  head.  The  Atwater  Company  takes  first  rank  among  the 
manufacturers  of  carriage  hardware  and  is  well  known  for  its  ex- 
tensive and  reliable  business.  When  Mr.  Woodruff  assumed  its 
management  the  company  was  in  a  precarious  financial  condition  and 
it  is  through  his  efforts  and  ability  as  its  manager  and  sponsor  that 
the  company  has  won  its  present  prestige  and  trade. 

In  politics  Mr.  Woodruff  is  an  ardent  Democrat  and  during  his 
long,  busy  life  he  has  never  missed  an  active  part  in  voting  day.  He 
has  declined  public  honors  and  offices  but  in  1893  he  was  warden  of 
the  borough  and  is  now  treasurer,  and  he  has  held  many  offices 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  which  he  is  a  leading  and 
earnest  member.  He  takes  as  keen  and  lively  an  interest  in  social 
life,  town  affairs  and  public  charities  as  he  does  in  business  in  spite 
of  his  ripe  age  and  many  cares  and  responsibilities. 

On  October  2d,  1856,  Mr.  Woodruff  married  Mary  A.  Smith, 
daughter  of  Wyllys  and  Emily  (Barnes)  Smith,  of  Southington. 
She  died  in  1892  leaving  two  children,  a  daughter  and  a  son.  The 
son,  Arthur,  died  in  early  manhood  and  was,  like  his  father,  a  use- 
ful citizen  and  a  successful  and  promising  business  man.  He  de- 
voted his  time  to  agriculture  and  stock  breeding  with  unusual  in- 
telligence and  success,  and  had  a  splendid  career  before  him  at  the 
time  of  his  early  death.  Following  his  death  Mr.  Woodruff  caused 
to  be  erected  a  handsome  memorial  fountain  in  loving  memory  of  the 
wife  and  son.  Mr.  Woodruff's  daughter,  Edna,  as  a  descendant  of 
Samuel  and  Hannah  Woodruff,  is  a  prominent  member  of  the  Hannah 
Woodruff  Chapter  D.  A.  K.,  and  has  represented  with  honor  and 
credit  the  local  chapter  eight  times  at  the  Continental  Congress 
Washington,  D.  C.,  and  at  present  is  corresponding  secretary  c 

same. 

Mr   Woodruff  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-one  is  popularly  I 
as  Southington's  oldest  business  man  and  his  sagacity  and  energy 
active  business  life  are  indeed  wonderful  for  a  man  so  advanced 


400  MEBEIT   N.   WOODRUFF. 

years.  Such  a  life  proves  that  hard  work  does  not  enfeeble  if  it  is 
tempered  and  ordered  with  common  sense  and  balanced  by  good  habits 
at  both  work  and  play,  as  is  truly  the  case  in  the  long,  fruitful  and 
useful  life  of  Merrit  N".  Woodruff. 


LIST  OF  BIOGRAPHIES 


VOLUME  m 


Page 

William  Israel   Allyn 352 

Eugene  Atwood 378 

James  Arthur  Atwood 9 

John  Walter  Atwood 1 1 

Henry  Latham  Bailey 332 

Clark  Smith  Beardslee 65 

Morris  Beach  Beardsley 261 

Augustus  Milo  Blakesley 53 

Benjamin  Bliss 262 

William    Francis   Joseph   Board- 
man    155 

Amon  Bradley 203 

Edward   Elias   Bradley 160 

Lyman  Bushnell  Brainei  cl 15 

Cranston  Brenton 173 

James  Henry  Brewster 222 

Warren  Richard  Briggs 143 

John  Chapin  Brinsmade 176 

Benjamin  Hiel  Bristol 178 

Isaac  Watts  Brooks 13 

Arthur  Morton  Brown 358 

Samuel  Joshua  Bryant 171 

Charles  Booth  Buckingham 384 

Lucien  Francis  Burpee 336 

Charles  E.  Chaffee. ." 151 

Caleb  Jackson  Camp 103 

Charles  Edward  Chandler 376 

Maro  Spaulding  Chapman 31 

Henry  Sabin  Chase 17 

Henry   Edwards   Chichester 67 

Jesse  Milton  Coburn 188 

William  Augustus  Collins 69 

Lorrin  A.  Cooke 324 

Lewis  Angel  Corbin 296 

Charles  Henry  Crandall 196 

Thomas  Benjamin  Doolittle, ....   386 


Pag. 

Sylvester  Clark  Dunham 35 

William  Lewis   Elkin 27 

William  Frederick  Ellis 354 

Frank   Willette  Etheridge 347 

Edwin  Brownson  Everitt 251 

Franklin    Farrel 316 

John  H.  Ferris 309 

Samuel    Fessenden 190 

Lawrence  Seymour  Forbes 199 

Henry  Gay 88 

Curtis  Manning  Geer 45 

Frederick  Button  Getman 39 

Adolph   West    Gilbert 312 

Elizur  S.  Goodrich 43 

Frank    Gorham 47 

Charles  Edward  Graham 85 

Edwin  Dwight  Graves 253 

David  I.  Green 232 

William  J.  Groesbeck 87 

Philip  Julius   Handel 92 

William  Burt  Harlow 220 

Carl  Axel  Harstroro 292 

Willis  Farrar  Hobbs 187 

Walter  Wetmore  Holmes 328 

Charles  Patten  Howard 300 

James  Leland  Howard 318 

Elijah  Kent  Hubbard,  .Jr 81 

John  Tomlinson  Hubbard 49 

Leander  L.  Hull 55 

Frank  Louis  Hungerford 372 

Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus     .   307 
Edward    Hopkins    Jenkin*   .        .139 

William  Hawley  Judd 216 

Stiles   Judson . .     79 

Mayro    Keeney ...     75 

Philo  Milea  Kellogg  .  .105 


Henry  Hopkins  Kelsey 205 

Monroe  Fayette  Latham 243 

Sebastian  Duffy  Lawrence 267 

John  Nelson  Lewis 360 

John  Henry  Light 320 

George   Francis   Lockwood 380 

William  Joseph  Long 21 

Charles   Stedman  Macfarland.  .  .   391 

William  Taber  Macfarlane 326 

Francis  Mason  Manning 134 

Marcus  Dwight  Marks 214 

Edward  Williams  Marsh 116 

Frederick  Gregory  Mather 122 

William  Ward  McLane 120 

Rev.   Stewart  Means 112 

Samuel  Edwin  Merwin 278 

David   Henry   Miller 147 

Daniel  Nash  Morgan 127 

John  Emery  Morris 38 

Adrian   James  Muzzy 245 

Lloyd  Nash    288 

Henry   Byron   Noyes 256 

Charles  Page 350 

John  Augustus  Paine 259 

Robert    Palmer 334 

Francis   Hubert   Parker 272 

Freman   Fremont   Patten 282 

Charles    Phelps 25 

David  Ellsworth  Phelps 226 

Watson  Lyman  Phillips 369 

Noble  Emerson  Pierce 94 

Albert  Linder  Pope 207 


George  Loring  Porter 284 

Ezra  Edward  Post 367 

Charles  Edward  Prior 60 

William  North  Rice 235 

Robert  Baird  Riggs 99 

Harvey  Loomis  Roberts 238 

Frank  Elijah  Robinson 100 

Albert  Fenimore  Rockwell 249 

George   Lounsbury   Rockwell ....  73 

Charles  George  Root 141 

Frederick  Arthur   Rugg 137 

William  Oscar  Seymour 228 

Samuel   Simpson 304 

Henry  F.  Shoemaker 294 

Elliot  Palmer  Skinner 149 

William  Boyd  Spencer 158 

Lewis  Sperry 131 

David    Strong 109 

Noble  Bennett  Strong 269 

Lyman  •  Allyn  Upson 340 

Simeon   Harrison   Wagner 394 

Hobart  Augustus   Warner 165 

Arthur  Canfield  Wheeler 167 

John  Hurlbut  White 210 

David  Erskine  Whiton 183 

Lucius   Erskine   Whiton 185 

William  Conrad  Wile 57 

Washington  Frederick  Willcox . .  342 

Elias    Williams 114 

George  Morris  Woodruff 362 

Merrit  N.  Woodruff 398 

William  Henry  Harrison  Wooster  276 


LIST  OF  FULL  PAGE  PORTRAITS 


VOLUME  m 


Page 

James  Arthur  Atwood 8 

Augustus  Milo  Blakesley 52 

Benjamin  Bliss 263 

William   Francis  Joseph   Board- 
man    154 

Amon  Bradley  202 

Edward  Elias   Bradley 161 

James  Henry  Brewster •  223 

Benjamin  Hill  Bristol 179 

Samuel  Joseph  Bryant 170 

Lucien  Francis  Burpee 337 

Caleb  Jackson  Camp 102 

Maro  Spaulding  Chapman 30 

Henry  Sabin  Chase 18 

Lewis  Angel  Corbin 297 

Thomas    Benjamin   Doolittle 387 

William  Frederick  Ellis 355 

Frank   Willette  Etheridge 346 

Samuel    Fessenden 191 

Henry  Gay 89 

Adolph   West    Gilbert 313 

Elizur    S.    Goodrich 42 

Charles  Edward  Graham 84 

Walter  Wetmore  Holmes 329 

Frank  Louis  Hungerford 373 


Pahe 
Melancthon  Williams  Jacobus...  306 

William  Hawley  Judd 217 

Stiles   Judson 78 

John  Henry  Light 321 

George   Francis   Lockwood 381 

Edward  Williams  Marsh 117 

Samuel  Edwin  Merwin 279 

Daniel  Nash  Morgan 126 

David  Henry  Miller 146 

Lloyd  Nash    289 

Henry  Byron  Noyea 257 

Francis  Hubert  Parker 273 

Charles  Phelps 24 

Noble   Emerson   Pierce 95 

Charles  Edward  Prior 61 

Harvey  Loomis  Roberts 239 

Albert  Fenimore  Rockwell 248 

George  Lounsbury  Rockwell ....     72 

Frederick  Arthur  Rugg 136 

William  Oscar  Seymour 229 

David  Strong 108 

John  Hurlbut  White  Ill 

Simeon   Harrison   Wagner 395 

George  Morris  Woodruff 363 


